Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron
by Code 089
Summary: In the past they were the best, but their time was coming to an end. Choosing to be frozen to safeguard the future, they slept. However, something went wrong and they awoke to a future that was worse than their past. The Reapers have awoken, and it is time to show the future the true power of death.
1. Chapter 1: The Awakening

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 1: The Awakening

The city looked much like the others that were scattered about this dying husk of a world. Streets cracked and broken, in some areas completely consumed by the sand. Buildings cracked and crumbling, some having fell already to the passage of time. What were once market stalls, were now nothing more than piles of woodchips. A rusted bicycle chain hung from a railing in front of the court house, the bike itself having broken free and fallen over some time ago. In the center of the city was an old clocktower forever frozen at a quarter till three.

Deep beneath the municipal complex in the city, there is a facility with pods stacked in a honeycomb formation. On one of the walls outside of the facility it can barely be seen the words _Ark 03_. Inside, the space looked like a large warehouse will several rows of the pods, although all but 6 were unlit. A layer of ice covered the floor of the facility making it seem like a large ice rink. Suddenly an alarm began to sound in the facility.

 _**Warning: critical failure of life-pods 7556-7562 detected. Releasing occupants and beginning wake up procedure**_

A stream of steam began to spew forth from the life-pods before violently erupting from the pods, the doors being torn off their hinges and being slammed into the nearest wall. Six figures crawled out of the pods, tubes trailing from them as they exited the pods. All was quiet for a moment, before the tubes glowed green and then retracted off the bodies of the six figures, their bodies jerked as they were suddenly brought to consciousness. There was the sound of coughing and gagging before one of the figures said,

"Squad! Sound off!" The others replied,

"R-02, Crow, alive." said a gruff male voice.

"R-03, Raven, ok." Said a light female voice.

"R-04, Snake, fine." Said another male voice.

"R-05, Cypress, online" said a female voice.

"R-06, Owl, awake" said the last voice.

The six now identified figures began to get up off the floor and get themselves together. The first voice said,

"Next time I volunteer to be frozen, somebody smack some sense into me."

"Reaper, even if you knew waking up was going to be like this, you still would have volunteered to be frozen. I know you too well." Crow said.

After getting up and looking around Snake said, "Judging by all the ice, the cryogenics must have failed, but why no one else was released is still a mystery."

"Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about it now, they are in God's hands now." Raven said.

"First things first," said Cypress, "we need to find the way out of here and check the situation topside."

As the group began to move about Reaper asked,

"Owl, are you alright?".

"Yea, I'm fine just give me a minute." She replied.

"Hey, squad leader!" Crow shouted, "I've found the way out!"

"Understood! We're on our way!" replied Reaper while helping Owl up.

"You good?" Reaper asked. Owl nodded. The six met up at the entrance and began climbing the stairs to the surface. There was an elevator, but due to lack of maintenance and use it was no longer operable.

As they reached the surface and entered the sunlight you could finally see what they looked like. For the most part, they were all dressed the same, a full length black cloak with a high collar that covered the face up to the eyes although Reaper's cloak was a bit more tattered. Reaper was a Caucasian man, about 5'7'' with messy blond hair and a diamond ring on his left hand. To his immediate left was Crow. Crow was a 6'3'' black man with short black hair. To his right was Cypress, a Caucasian woman standing at 5'6'' with a body built like a gymnast. She had long brown hair that went down to mid back and two small ear piercings.

To Reaper's left was Owl. A rather short girl standing at only 5'1''. She was treated as the younger sister of the squad, but she can hold her own, sometimes even out doing Crow, who was the second-best fighter on the team. To her left was Raven. She was the shortest of the group, standing at 4'9'' but with a fiery temper to match her red hair which she kept in a high ponytail. Lastly to her left was Snake. Snake was the same height as Reaper, 5'7'' but was the brains of the group, he wore a pair of black rimmed glasses.

As soon as the squad got used to the harsh sunlight and saw the state of the city, the first words that came out of Reaper's mouth were,

"How long were we frozen?"

The rest of the squad couldn't help but think the same thing when they saw the decrepit state of the once proud city. Once they got over their shock Crow asked,

"should we look for survivors in the city?".

Reaper shook his head. "If there were any the Klaxosaurs would have gotten them by now." Reaper turned toward the group and began giving orders.

"We are going to need supplies if we are going to last very long. Crow, Raven, check if the Reaper cache is still intact and collect the supplies from within. Once you're done with that search the east side of the city for anything useful. Snake, Cypress, you take the north side and Owl and I will take the west side."

"Yes, sir!" they replied.

"Meet back here in five hours, Go." He said, and each group split off to search their sector of the city.

Meanwhile just over the horizon, a large dome could be seen rumbling toward the ruins of the city. As the dome travelled, on the side of it words could be seen. _Plantation 13_.

 **A/N:** whew, done. Alright everybody, welcome to Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron. This is an idea that has been kicking around in my head since I saw the anime. Just to give you an idea as to where we are in the story, this chapter as well as the next take place between episodes 2 and 3. I will try to post a chapter a week but with work and school I make no promises. This is my first fanfiction, so criticism is appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	2. Chapter 2: Found

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 2: Found

 **Time skip: 5 hours**

The sun was just starting to set when the members of the squadron reconvened at the entrance to Ark 03. Crow and Raven were carrying several items as well as a few backpacks, Reaper and Owl had a container full of rations. Only Cypress and Snake came up empty handed.

"What was the status of the Reaper cache you two?" Reaper asked.

"We managed to recover several supplies but the cache itself is uninhabitable." Crow replied.

"We found several weeks' worth of rations, as well as enough communicators for all of us." Raven stated, handing communicators to everyone.

Reaper communicators were the most valuable assets the squadron could have. Extending from the wrist to a quarter way up the arm, they were all black with a red holo-display. The communicators had a range of up to 20 miles without a satellite uplink. They were solar powered with a life of 2 weeks before they needed to be recharged, with the charge time only taking about an hour of full sun before being fully charged. They were one of the few pieces of tech left that did not run on magma energy.

"We also found several Hackers as well as five Eden disks." Crow stated. Reaper's eyes narrowed.

"That's strange. I didn't stash any Eden disks here, I was sure I destroyed them all." Reaper said.

Hackers, as the name implies, can hack into any system without fail. No matter the firewall or security on the target system a Hacker can get through it. The average time to break into a system is 5.3 seconds. Eden disks were a device made by Reaper himself using a method that he would never reveal. When deployed, they can create a Garden of Eden like zone in a radius of about 2 miles. Rejuvenating everything in the zone, from the trees to the soil and minerals in the ground, to pre-magma energy conditions. Due to their power, Reaper thought he destroyed all the disks before being frozen, evidently, he was wrong. Though how someone was able to replicate them he did not know.

"There was nothing of interest in the north sector?" Owl asked.

"The only thing we found was information," Snake said, "and it wasn't anything we already didn't know. The Ark project was completed and sealed, then two years after completion the city was overrun by Klaxosaurs. Everybody still in the city either died or fled. Where they went though was not stated."

"We found an old army barracks in the west sector of the city." Reaper said. "Except for some outer parts, its mostly intact. It should be suitable as a base of operations until we can go to somewhere more suitable."

"Is there a Reaper Base anywhere nearby?" Cypress asked, thinking that one of their old bases would be a good place to go while they figured out what their next move was.

"The nearest Reaper Base is Base 15 to the northwest, but it is a 3-week trek by foot. We don't currently have the supplies to make the trip, so either we need to make several vehicles to get us there, which we don't have the time or materials for, or we scavenge up enough supplies from here then make the trek." Snake said.

"Alright, lets retreat to the barracks then." Crow said.

Reaper looked to the rest of the squad to see if they agreed. They all nodded.

"Then let's go." Reaper said.

 **Time skip: 2 weeks**

"Children, in preparation for your next sortie we had sent in a drone to check and see if there any Klaxosaurs but…" Nana announced. "It appears that someone has already been killing them. Judging by the number as well as the type killed I have a hunch that there is a lost squad within the city. So, your orders have changed to rescuing the lost squad and returning them to the plantation."

All of Squad 13 sat in the briefing room listening to Nana speak. They were a 5 guy 5 girl team. Starting with the guys, Goro, also known as Code 056, is a tall and averagely built man, being the tallest in Squad 13, with blond loose-spiked hair styled into an undercut. Next is Zorome. Zorome, also known as Code 666, has unruly light brown hair which flares out on the sides and back. He has long bangs which mostly cover his forehead. Standing at 5'3'' he is the shortest of Squad 13. After him is Futoshi. Futoshi, also known as Code 214, has a hefty build and a kind face. He is quite tall, being the second tallest next to Goro. He has short auburn-brown hair that hangs lightly over his forehead. Next up is Hiro. Hiro, known as Code 016, has an average build, height, and a standard "slim" male physique. He had black, shaggy hair and is known as the unofficial leader of the children at the Garden. Finally, for the guys there is Mitsuru. Mitsuru, known as Code 326, has a very clean and proper appearance with sharp features. He has piercing deep green eyes and is 5'5'' being the second shortest in the group of guys between Zorome and Hiro. He has olive-brown hair which he wears slicked back.

For the girls, first up Ichigo. Ichigo, known as Code 015, has soft green eyes and a petite build, being the shortest among the parasites in Squad 13. She wears her straight and short blue hair in a razor-cut hairstyle, where her hair hangs lengthier on the right side of her face. She has free-falling bangs that mostly covers her right eye and one long strand of hair on the left side of her face. Next is Kokoro. Kokoro, known as Code 556, has a fair complexion, calm, rich blue eyes. She has long, wavy, ashen-blonde hair and long bangs framing her forehead and face. She wears a lacy blue headband to keep her hair out of her face. After her is Miku. Miku, known as Code 390, is a petite girl with auburn red hair and sea blue eyes. Her hair is done up in girlish pigtails with a small cowlick at the top of her head. Next up, we have Ikuno. Ikuno, known as Code 196, has deep purple hair tied into a short ponytail using a blue butterfly clip and bangs on either side of her weary green eyes. She wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Last, but certainly not least, we have Zero Two. Zero Two, known as Code 002, has a slender and athletic figure; she is the tallest girl in the squad and even taller than most of the boys as well. She has waist-length, long pink hair with straight bangs covering her forehead and a pair of red horns on her head. She had sharp, cyan eyes with rings around the pupils and pinkish-red eyeliner.

Hachi noticed Ichigo had her hand up.

"Question?" Hachi asked.

"What types were identified and if a squad can take them out they why deploy a FranXX?" Ichigo asked. She knew that they were a relatively new squad, but she did not think that command thought that they were that incapable.

"The types identified were several of the Conrad class as well as a few of the Mohorovic class. The FranXX is being deployed in case a horde shows up." Nana said.

Conrad class Klaxosaurs were the weakest type of Klaxosaur. Generally smaller than a FranXX, they are not much of a threat unless they gather in numbers. If enough gather in an area, they can merge to form a Mohorovic class. Mohorovic class Klaxosaurs, Moho class for short, are a medium sized Klaxosaurs that can be a serious threat to plantations if left unattended.

"The FranXX is also being deployed in case this turns out to be a trap." Hachi said. "While this would not normally be the case the video taken by the drone makes me think otherwise. Watch, and tell me what you think of this."

Everyone gazed into the curved screen that was displaying the live feed from the drone before it ended. It was scanning the city as ordered and the number and type of dead Klaxosaurs that covered the area had already been noted. Just before it was about to leave, the drone detected movement in the old army barracks and was ordered to investigate. However just as it entered the dark space it was grabbed from behind. Although it squirmed and spun it was unable to break free of its captor's hold. Using its remaining resistance, the drone looked up to see Reaper and his squad. The last thing the drone saw was a scythe appearing before the feed ended.

Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen as they tried to comprehend what they just witnessed, although it was Ichigo and Goro who had real reason to be curious. Goro had seen that the scythe appeared to come out of the shadows themselves although that could have just been due to the lighting in the area. Ichigo had noticed one very important fact, all their eyes were glowing red.

"Who is that?" Zero Two asked. Her cyan eyes were locked on Reaper and she had a diabolical grin on her face.

"Currently we don't know but that is where you come in. We haven't found a plantation that has a squad that has a uniform like that, so we are skeptical…" Nana explained while studying Reaper's uniform.

"Are they Adults? They look old enough to be." Zorome said. Which sparked chatter amongst the squad.

"Enough talking! Let's get this done quick and easy. Move out!" Hachi's voice effectively silencing the room as everyone left to get organized.

 **Meanwhile 1 hour ago**

Inside the army barracks, the Reaper Squadron was taking a well-earned break. They had spent the last two weeks scouring the city looking for supplies and had nearly gathered everything they needed.

"We nearly have enough supplies to make the trip Reaper." Raven said as she and Owl were going through the supplies that they had gathered.

"Is there anywhere we haven't searched yet?" Reaper asked, as he leaned up against one of the walls.

"Well there is a section in the south sector we hadn't…" Owl trailed off, her head snapping to the right and looking at a wall.

"Owl?" Crow asked from his place on the couch that they had found.

"Reaper, we've got a drone in the area." Owl said.

"How far?" He asked, pushing himself off the wall and coming to stand by her side. His eyes beginning to glow.

Owl closed her eyes and listened. "About a mile and half away and circling the area." She replied, opening her eyes.

"Cypress, go disturb the curtains by the entrance window. See if you can lure it into the barracks." Reaper said as he turned off the lights and moved to the side of the door where he couldn't be seen.

"Yes sir." She said as the rest of the squad stacked up on either side of the door and waited.

There was several minutes of silence before Cypress returned. "It's on its way." She said falling in line with everyone else.

There was a minute and a half of silence before the whirring of the drone could be heard by everyone else. They waited in tense silence for the drone to appear, as soon as it did, Reaper grabbed it from behind. It tried its best to escape but was unable to break the hold that Reaper had on it. As Crow brought out his scythe to kill it Reaper saw the camera turn up to look at them. The drone gave a pitiful whine as Crow stabbed it. When it finally stopped moving Reaper said,

"Prepare yourselves, we are about to have some company."

 **A/N:** And done. Alright, things are starting to get interesting now aren't they. Also worry not, I plan on giving Hiro and Zero Two the happy ending that we all wanted. As a side note, with the addition of the Reaper Squadron, some events are going to pan out differently and some won't happen at all. Criticism is greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	3. Chapter 3: Contact & Capture

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 3: Contact & Capture

 **Time skip: 2 hours**

"You have got to be kidding me." Raven says, from her and Crow's position atop one of the buildings in the city. She was hoping her eyes were deceiving her as she looked at the massive mech that is approaching the city. Her eyes however were not deceiving her, there was a massive, humanoid, white, red and blue mech that was making its way toward the city. Behind it she could make out some type of mobile dome/fortress. Handing off the binoculars to Crow she said,

"See if you can find anything else of note or a potential weakness. I'm going to tell Reaper about this."

Crow nodded his head and put his eyes up to the binoculars while Raven tapped a few screens on her communicator before beginning to speak.

"Raven to Reaper. How copy?" She asked.

"This is Reaper, I can hear you loud and clear." He said as his face appeared on the screen. "What's up? Is the enemy here already?"

"Not exactly Reaper." She said. "The enemy appear to have a massive mech on their side."

"What?!" He exclaimed.

"That's right. There is an enormous red, white, and blue battle mech headed our direction." She replied.

"It's carrying something." Crow suddenly noted. "Humans, I think."

"If they are indeed humans, why send a battle mech to retrieve us? You don't send heavy armor unless you are expecting heavy resistance" Reaper said.

"It has two magma energy spear-like swords on its arms." Crow stated.

"It might be for defensive purposes against the Klaxosaurs for the dome behind it." Raven stated.

"Dome?" Reaper asked.

"Yeah, near the horizon there is an extremely large dome/fortress that the mech came from." Raven replied.

"Very well, keep an eye on it but do not be seen." Reaper stated.

"Yes sir!" They replied.

Suddenly Snake appeared in the call. "Pardon the intrusion Squad Leader but," Snake said. "I've detected a horde of Conrad class Klaxosaurs approaching from the east."

"Damn it! How far out are they?" Reaper asked.

"About 8 clicks." Snake replied.

"Hmmm." Crow hummed.

"What?" Both Reaper and Snake asked.

"It appears the battle mech is going to deal with them." Crow stated as he watched the mech set down the people from its hand and began walking toward the east. Likely having detected the horde as well.

"Alright, that will keep it occupied for a while. Send us any new intel on our enemy when you receive it. Reaper and Snake out." Reaper said as both he and Snake exited the call.

 **Time skip 30 minutes**

A group entered the city from the northwest. High above them a raven circled over the group looking down on them. Back at the rooftop, Crow was looking for any other threats while Raven was crouched near the edge of the roof with her eyes closed. There was a black shadow covering her eyes which faded as she opened her eyes. At the same time Reaper and Cypress suddenly appeared on Raven's communicator.

"Raven, Crow, report." Reaper stated.

"A group of 8 just entered from the north west." Raven replied. "4 guys and 4 girls, aged approximately 10-15, unarmed."

"They sent children in after us?" Cypress asked, shaking her head.

"Don't underestimate them. We don't know what they are capable of." Reaper said.

"Where do you wish to engage them?" Crow asked.

"Near the square." Reaper replied. "Gives us room to work with as well as give support if necessary."

"Very well, we will begin to lead them there. Raven out" She said before closing the call. She turned toward Crow,

"I'll be the bait, you don't have the speed." She said.

"I'm fast when I want to be." Crow huffed.

"But you have yet to beat me in a race." Raven said with a smirk before disappearing down the side of the building.

Crow huffed before putting away the binoculars and preparing to follow Raven to the city center via the rooftops.

 **POV change: Raven**

As I landed on the ground I took stock of the situation. The group had split up into pairs in the time we were talking and were systematically searching the northern section of the city. " _I'll send an attack at one pair and run. That should draw them out and get them to follow me."_ I thought. Since they were already in front of me, I decided to attack the pair ahead of me, which consisted of a boy with unruly brown hair and a girl with the same hair color as her but instead kept in two pigtails. I held out my right hand and concentrated, and soon a shadow portal appeared on the ground and out from it came my scythe, Misery.

She was nothing fancy, just a midnight blue scythe blade on a long black handle, but she was mine and that's all that mattered. It was nothing like Reaper's two bladed, death dealer, Harvester, but considering his numerous dealings with _**him**_ , I'll stick with Misery. I took careful aim, aiming for the space between the brown-haired boy and the girl, and let Misery fly. She flew right between the two causing both to let out a shriek. To my amusement, the boy let out a higher shriek than the girl. I quickly wrapped my hand in shadow and called Misery back to me, causing it to halt in its flight and reverse back into my hand, catching the two-off guard as they turned to look at me.

I made sure that they got a good look at me before turning and beginning to run down the nearest street, receiving a "Hey, wait!" from the boy before I turned the corner of an adjacent street. As I ran from the pair I could hear the girl shouting orders into her mike to her group. Not the smartest idea to shout orders so that they enemy could hear them but hey, maybe they were new to this. They were children after all. As I was running I banished Misery and called up Reaper on the communicator. "I've got their attention and are guiding them to the square." I said.

"Good. Cypress and Snake are already waiting, and Owl and I will be there shortly." He said.

"Understood. Raven out." I said as I closed the link. The sound of footsteps behind me had multiplied so I looked back and saw that 2 other pairs had joined up with the first. _"Where are the final two?"_ I thought. Hearing footsteps above me I looked up to see Crow leaping from rooftop to rooftop trying to keep up with me, although he was falling behind. I chuckled to myself before having to dodge a flying kick coming from the right from a girl with pink hair and two little red horns. A boy with shaggy black hair came out of the same alley the pink haired girl did and joined the group that was chasing me bringing the total up to eight. Just in time too as I could see the square just ahead of me. I suddenly heard from behind me.

"She is headed for the square! Cut her off!"

The pink-haired girl jumped in front of me and attempted to grab my arm, but I summersaulted over her before doing a backflip and ending up next to Reaper and Owl who appeared from behind the old fountain. When the group crossed into the square, Crow jumped down from behind them cutting off their exit and cracked his knuckles. Snake came out of the shadow of a building and Cypress punched off the lid of a sewer drain before appearing.

"Hello children," Reaper said with a grin on his face and his eyes glowing, "let's dance".

 **POV Change: Third Person**

As the fight began the two groups squared off. Miku and Zorome versus Raven, Kokoro versus Crow, Ikuno versus Snake, Mitsuru versus Cypress, Futoshi versus Owl, and Hiro and Zero Two versus Reaper.

Miku and Zorome Versus Raven

"Hey now, we just want to talk!" Miku said.

"Well then, you should have thought about that before coming in with a battle mech shouldn't you?" Raven replied.

"What?" Miku asked before getting hit in the solar plexus. While she was trying to recover her breath, Raven chopped her in the neck, causing her to be knocked out.

"Miku!" Zorome shouted before turning back to Raven.

"You'll pay for that." He growled, before throwing a punch at Raven. She immediately caught the punch before responding with her own, punching him in the face and breaking his nose. While he was dealing with his broken nose, Raven hit his temples, causing him to fall unconscious. "huff, that was easy" she said. Raven carried the two over to one of the nearby building and turned to watch the others.

Kokoro Versus Crow

As Kokoro faced off against Crow, she was a bit nervous but thought she could handle him. _"He can't be that bad right?"_ she thought. That was before he suddenly disappeared. As she looked around for him she was lightly hit in the back of the neck causing her to fall unconscious.

"I'm sorry." Crow said as he caught her limp body. He picked her up bridal style and carried her over to where Raven had taken Miku and Zorome and laid her gently beside the two. He then turned around to watch the others fight while keeping an eye on the trio out of the corner of his eye.

Ikuno Versus Snake

"Why are you taking off your glasses? Do you not need them?" Ikuno asked as she saw Snake take his glasses off and put them in his pocket.

"No, I need them." He said. "I just don't want to get them broken in the fight."

Ikuno gave him a questioning look before, to her at least, he started blurring toward her, fist raised toward her face. She managed to block that punch, though it would leave one hell of a bruise later. Ikuno, however did not block the second hit to the back of her jaw, causing her to pass out. He then picked her up and carried her over to the others before putting his glasses back on.

"Aww man, I got a chip in my glasses!" Snake exclaimed.

"Oh, quit whining." Raven said. "Reaper can fix it, you know that."

"That's not the point!" Snake whined.

Mitsuru Versus Cypress

Mitsuru started out his fight with Cypress with an attempted strike to her gut which she quickly dodged. He then followed with a series of strikes to her neck, trying to hit the Vegas nerve (the nerve just below the ear).

"You strike with precision." Cypress complemented. "but…" that was all she got out before Mitsuru managed to get a hit on her solar plexus. While she was winded, he casually walked over to her and prepared to land the finishing blow. Before he could however, Cypress suddenly launched forward and landed a hit on his spleen, his liver, and a knee to the groin simultaneously causing him to be knocked out. "…your too cocky" Cypress said. She then dragged him over to where the other lay, she then leaned up against the building keeping an eye on the children in case they started to wake up.

Futoshi Versus Owl

"We don't have to do this, we just want to talk." Futoshi said, facing off against Owl.

"Perhaps not." Owl said, "But if you just wanted to talk, you should have sent an envoy instead of a combat squad and a battle mech."

"Wait!" he said before Owl rushed forward and body checked him, sending him flying. She then dashed forward again and grabbed his arm before throwing him over her shoulder and slamming him into the ground, he was instantly unconscious.

"Hmmm, might have been too rough with him. Oh well." She said before she slung him over her shoulder and carried him over to the others. Crow and the others looked at Futoshi before turning to Owl with raised eyebrows.

"What did he do?" Snake sighed out.

"Acted like he wasn't in the wrong and thought we shouldn't be fighting them." Owl replied.

"At least he didn't call you short!" Crow laughed.

Owl glared at him before turning to watch Reaper finish taking on the final two. The group had now formed a semi-circle around the fallen group ensuring that they could not get out.

"Should we tie them up?" Cypress asked.

"Does anyone have something to tie them up with?" Snake asked.

"I've got some rope." Raven said, pulling a length out of her cloak

"Alright tie them up, but don't make the ropes too tight Raven." Crow said giving Raven a pointed look. "They aren't built like we are."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She said as she began tying up the group.

Reaper Versus Hiro and Zero Two

The first part of the fight was relatively simple for Reaper. All it took was a few quick hits on the black-haired boy's body before he was able to get a hit on the boy's temples and down he went. He was suddenly hit in the chest by a roundhouse kick and sent flying across the square. Reaper turned in midair and managed to land with his feet spread out behind him and one hand on the ground. As he looked up he saw a pink haired girl holding the boy and shaking him.

"Darling? Darling?!" she shouted as he did not respond.

" _Darling? Surely they're not…_ " he quickly looked at her hands but saw nothing. _"No, but then why is she…"_ Reaper thought before the girl gently put the boy down before turning and growling at him and dashing toward him. He grinned and ran toward her as well and they met in the middle of the square and began trading blows.

Meanwhile back with the rest of the Reaper Squadron their captives were beginning to wake up.

"Ugh, did anyone get the number of that Klaxosaur that hit me?" Zorome asked.

"It wasn't a Klaxosaur." Raven replied. "My number is R-03 if you're interested though."

"Try not to move too much." Snake said. "You all are probably still experiencing the effects of having your nerve clusters hit and movement is not the best idea."

"It's probably best for you guys to sit and watch R-01 take on your pink haired friend." Cypress said.

"They are pretty evenly matched." Crow said. "Although the pink haired one might have a slight advantage when it comes to speed."

"Her name is Zero Two." Hiro said after he woke up.

"Noted." Owl said, her eyes never leaving Reaper's form.

"Aren't you guys going to go help him?" Kokoro asked, trying to stand and failing.

Owl gave her a strange look and Cypress replied, "Why would we do that? Reaper is having fun."

They all turned toward the fight and saw that; indeed, Reaper had the largest grin on his face as he was fighting Zero Two. They traded blows for a while before breaking off.

"Your good." Reaper complimented. "I haven't had this good of a workout in a long time."

Zero Two said nothing and simply cracked her neck before reengaging Reaper. The two went back to trading blows, for the most part they blocked each other's hits. They each took glancing blows, nothing serious until Zero Two miscalculated and over extended her reach, leaving herself open to a counter attack. Reaper took it and hit her hard in the center of her forehead with his wrist, causing her head to snap back and knock her out, possibility giving her a concussion as well. Reaper quickly caught her before she hit the ground.

"Thank you for the good fight" he muttered to her before carrying her toward the others. Hiro and the others looked a Reaper in shock.

"Alright that should be the last of them. Let's get them back to base before…" Reaper started to say before getting hit in the neck with something.

"What the…" Reaper said before he pulled out what had hit him and saw what it was.

"Tranquilizer!" He shouted. The others had no time to react as they were each hit by a dart as well and dropped.

" _I forgot about the mech and its pilots"_ was the last thought Reaper had before slipping into unconsciousness.

Hiro and the others turned to look at where the darts came from and saw Ichigo waving at them with Goro looking down the sights of a tranquilizer gun.

"Mission complete." Hachi said. "Grab them and return to base"

Ichigo and Goro climbed down from the building they were on and went over to the group and began to untie them. Zero Two waking up shortly afterward. They then each grabbed a member of Reaper Squad and carried them toward Delphinium. Cypress and Crow requiring two people to carry them.

 **A/N:** And end scene. Whew, this is my longest chapter to date, almost 3k words without the author's notes of course. Just a quick note, the reason Squad 13 got wiped was that they are a relatively new squad with little combat experience. Versus Reaper Squadron who are trained professionals with years of experience. Zero Two is, of course, an exception due to her time with the 9's. I wanted to try telling the story in first person to see how it went. Tell me what you guys think. As always reviews are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	4. Chapter 4: Testing and Apologies

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 4: Testing and Apologies

 **A/N:** As I did not have internet over the past day and a half and I did not have school or work, I was able to get another chapter done, so you guys get two new chapters this week. Also, since I forgot to put this in my first chapter,

Disclaimer: I do not own Darling in the FranXX. I only own Reaper and his squad, they're mine. Enjoy!

...

In the medical facility of Plantation 13, the Reaper Squadron lay on hospital beds. Just then a nurse walks in. She goes to each of the reapers and checks their vitals and the EEG machine monitoring their brainwaves. She then huffs and mumbles to herself.

"What is with you guys? You have no YBC to speak of, yet you can easily take out several Conrad class and Moho class Klaxosaurs by yourselves and to top it off you have _black blood!_ What are you?!"

She did not receive an answer from the sleeping squad and promptly left. The nurse walked down the hall to Dr. FranXX's office. She knocked on his door.

"Enter" he said.

She entered and reported to the doctor,

"Sir, I just went in and took their vitals and their brainwaves are being to rise to normal levels. They should wake up in a few hours."

"Excellent." He said. "What about their YBC?"

"Exactly like you predicted, none"

"Fascinating. To be able to kill a Klaxosaur with no assistance at all."

"Indeed sir."

...

Soft. That was the first thing that Reaper had felt upon returning to consciousness, this was strange as Reaper hardly slept. Being a natural night owl, he didn't sleep at night and with killing Klaxosaurs during the day, he didn't really sleep, not without much coaxing from his squad, or his body collapsing from exhaustion. So, to experience the softness of a mattress without him remembering lying on one was strange. He was almost content to lay there for a while, until his memories of the previous day returned to him. He groaned out loud. Captured, they, the best Reaper squad in the world, had been _captured_. If his commander was still alive, he would have his ass for this.

Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw that they were in a medical facility. This was strange. Why would their enemy bother to waste resources to heal them? It made no sense. Looking down he saw that they had removed his cloak and put him in a hospital gown. Removing the sensors that were placed on him, he began to look around in a panic trying to find his cloak. He looked to his left and saw his squadmates, each on a bed in the same hospital gown as he, looking to his right he saw their communicators but again, no cloak, this was a problem.

"Screw it." He said and summoned his cloak to his body. He quickly patted his cloak down until he found the Hackers and Eden disks still hidden inside and sighed in relief, such things could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. As he went get up he found he couldn't, looking back down again he realized that he was bound to the bed by a set of padded leather restraints. He chuckled lightly and jerked his arm up snapping the leather, he then proceeded to release the other restraints. As he was going about releasing his fellow squadmates they began to wake up and look about in confusion.

"Reaper, where are we?" Raven asked being the first to awaken.

"Beyond being in a medical facility, I don't know." He replied.

"Why would they waste supplies on healing us? We are the enemy." Crow asked himself as he sat up and stretched, summoning his cloak in the process. A shrug was Reapers only reply as he undid the last restraints on Owl, helping her up.

Just then the door opened and in came the nurse from earlier and a man with half his face covered in metal making him look like some kind of android, Dr. Franxx.

"Who are you?" Reaper asked getting into a defensive stance.

"And, where are we?" Crow asked.

"No need to be so hostile, we mean you no harm." Dr. Franxx said. "I am Doctor Franxx, creator of the FranXX. As for where you are, you are in Plantation 13."

Cypress opened her mouth to ask another question before Dr. Franxx raised a hand to silence her.

"I'm sure you have many questions and they will be answered in due time. However, right now, Papa, the commander of our organization would like to speak with you. Come." He said walking out of the room.

The Reapers looked at each other and shrugged. Grabbing their communicators, they followed the Doctor. They traveled down a series of hallways that eventually led to a big empty room with a one-way window.

"Tch, could use a splash of color, so much white." Owl commented.

"I prefer the uniformity of white." A voice said. "Less maintenance, and nobody can really complain about the color. Is this them Doctor?"

"Yes, Papa." the Doctor replied.

"Excellent. It is good to see you all in good health. You were asleep for 3 days. I apologize for using such…drastic measures, but it was fairly obvious that you would not come willingly, and we needed to get you out of there." Papa said.

"After a quick examination," Papa continued, "it seems that you all are lacking in certain areas of nutrition, no doubt from the rations you were forced to eat while you were on your own. You also seem to lack Yellow Blood Cells, that is a dangerous thing to have in our plantations as it can make others extremely aggressive toward you. We have machines that can remedy this, however, giving you YBC injections can cause some strange side effects so we would like to give you a physical examination before we do so."

" _He treats us like children."_ Cypress thought as Reaper turned to look at his squad for their approval to go forward with this. Everyone shrugged before nodding. Reaper turned back toward the window.

"Sure, why not"

"Excellent" Papa said and clapped his hands. To the right a door opened and in walked six children wearing the standard parasite uniform.

"We have seen what you can do against a fairly new squad, let's see how you do against a squad with much more experience. You will fight one on one, no assistance. Begin!" Papa said.

The parasite facing off against Reaper threw a punch at Reaper's face which he took, knocking it to the side. Reaper held the position for a moment before asking,

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

He then hit the parasite in the chest with his palm, sending the unfortunate parasite flying into a wall before he dropped like a sack of potatoes. The rest of Reaper Squad's fight was much the same, the parasites would get one, maybe two hits in before being sent flying into a wall and collapsing.

"Well done." Papa said. "I will have Dr. Franxx take you to the injection machines immediately. One thing to note however, due to the number of parasites we have in our care we generally call them by codes you will be..."

"We already have codes" Reaper interrupted.

"Oh"

"Indeed. I am R-01, to my left is R-02 and to his left is R-03. To my right is R-06 to her right is R-05 and to her right is R-04." Reaper said pointing to each Reaper in turn.

"Very well, you may continue to use those code names, they will be what we call you from this day forth." Papa said.

"If you will follow me I will take you to get your injections." Dr. Franxx said.

"Since the YBC injections are extremely painful we will have to sedate you, you will be asleep for no more than an hour or two." Dr. Franxx said as they entered room with six beds laying side by side.

"Very well." Reaper said and nodded to the others.

As each Reaper lied down on a bed the Doctor gave each of them the sedative and they were all quickly asleep. Dr. Franxx then opened his communicator and asked,

"What do you want me to do to them?"

"The usual, suppress any irrelevant memories and indoctrinate them." Papa said.

"Understood sir."

As the indoctrination process was going on Dr. Franxx gave each Reaper the YBC injection. A few minutes later the Doctor noticed something interesting, each of the Reaper's bodies tensed up. It seemed as if their bodies were _rejecting_ the YBC injection. He watched in fascination as the Yellow Blood Cells were forced back out of their bodies at the injection site.

"Fascinating." He muttered. He decided not to try injecting them again as to see what would happen when they tried to pilot a FranXX. He also decided not to tell Papa either.

 **Time skip: 1 hour**

As the Reapers awoke Dr. Franxx asked,

"So how are you feeling."

They said nothing for a minute as they got up but then Reaper said,

"You didn't seriously think that would work, did you?"

"What?"

Reaper quickly walked toward the Doctor backing him into a wall before slamming a hand next to his head, his eyes glowing red.

"The indoctrination, such things don't work on us. Try that shit again you will meet the bad end of my scythe, are we clear?" Reaper threatened.

The Doctor nodded mutely and Reaper back away from him.

"S-s-since the injection was successful," the doctor stuttered before composing himself. "We are going to move on to testing your connections to pistils and stamen."

"What are those?" Cypress asked.

"Pistils are female pilots while stamen are male pilots. The FranXX are piloted in boy-girl pairs." Dr. Franxx said.

"And what the hell are FranXX?" Snake asked.

"Come and I will show you" the Doctor replied.

They made their way down to the hanger where they saw six combat mechs being loaded into storage bays.

"These are FranXX, they are what we use to fight the Klaxosaurs that plague this world. The six you see before you will be yours, should you be compatible. These are the models that most parasites use."

"Most?" Owl asked.

"Most." Dr. Franxx said. He then pointed to the five empty bays off to the right. "Squad 13, which was the group you fought a few days ago, are exceptions to this rule and have custom FranXX."

Reaper and his squad turned to the FranXX that they were going to use and gave them a once over. The standard FranXX model is black and slender with yellow goggles. It wields a spear which can shoot orange harpoons made out of magma-energy. Reaper glanced at his squad and they all nodded in silent agreement, when they got the time, these FranXX were going to be given an overhaul.

"Come, we need to go to the testing chambers. I will explain the piloting process along the way." the Doctor said, and the Reapers walked behind him.

"As I said before, the FranXX are piloted in boy-girl pairs. The Pistil takes over the FranXX while the Stamen takes over the controls. When connecting in a FranXX... the best description I can give you is that you are searching for your partner's mind. If you find it, you should easily be able to connect. If you don't, you fail and try again with someone new."

They entered a room with several mockups of the FranXX controls. Also in the room, were a little over 2 dozen parasites.

"These will be the parasites that you will try to connect to." Dr. FranXX said.

Some of the parasites within the room looked intimidated by the Reaper Squadron's appearances while others scoffed at them.

"Please pick a chamber and we will send in your requisite pistil or stamen."

Each Reaper entered a chamber and a few moments later their partner entered the chamber and began the tests. After a few rounds of tests, the doctor noticed something. When the connection commenced, the Reapers paracapacity, without fail, shot up to 90-100 percent, while their partners could barely get out of the 30's, even with those who had previously had consistent 80's. He also noticed that the parasites, almost immediately, began to sweat and shake while the Reapers were unaffected.

"Enough." The Doctor said. "You parasites may go."

The parasites filed out of the room and the Reapers got out of the chambers to find out what was going on.

"All of you are unable to connect to a parasite. The reason being is that you are overwhelming your partners. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that we need to try with stronger parasites, although it will take a few days to get them here." The doctor began mumbling to himself.

While Dr. FranXX was distracted, Owl and Reaper decided to try connecting with each other to see if that would work. They quickly ducked into a chamber, at the same time Dr. FranXX looked up.

"Alright, we are going to... where did R-01 and R-06 go?" the Doctor asked.

He quickly got his answer as he heard the sound of a successful connection occurring in one of the chambers. Walking over to the chamber to see who was inside, he failed to notice the other Reapers doing the same thing as Reaper and Owl. With Crow paring with Raven and Cypress with Snake. Dr. Franxx looked in shock at Reaper and Owl in the chamber and quickly looked at their paracapacity scores. He then noticed that the other Reapers had gone into a chamber with another Reaper and had successfully connected. He was only slightly surprised at the results though, R-05 and R-06 were sitting at 100, R-02 and R-03 were at 110 and R-01 and R-06 were hovering just below the max at 119.

"As easy as breathing." Crow commented.

The Reapers disconnected and got out of the chambers and walked over to where Dr. Franxx was.

"Very well then, we will have the three spare FranXX put back into storage. You will receive orders from Hachi, Plantation 13's defense commander, tomorrow for a mock battle with Squad 13. With your scores however, I don't think piloting a FranXX will be too difficult for you." Dr. FranXX said.

"Let me make one thing absolutely clear." Reaper said sending him a glare. "We follow your organization's orders only because they align with our goals."

"And those are?" Dr. Franxx asked.

"Complete elimination of the Klaxosaur threat." Owl answered in a cold voice.

"Don't think, for even a moment, that you own us. We hold no allegiance to you and we can just as easily walk out of this plantation and leave you to die. Is that understood?" Reaper asked. Dr. Franxx nodded.

"Good. Now with that out of the way, where would we find Squad 13?" Reaper asked.

"13? They got back from a sortie about an hour ago, they should be up in Mistilteinn."

"And where is that?" Snake asked.

Dr. Franxx gave them the directions to Mistilteinn and the squad left. They soon arrived at an elevator that took them to Mistilteinn which they noted on the elevator panel was called the Birdcage. When they arrived Reaper suddenly got the sneaking suspicion as to why they had found Eden disks in the cache. Mistilteinn looked like what an area would look like if an Eden disk was detonated. Fertile soil and lush plant life in every direction, Reaper could hear a river flowing nearby and there were birds the distance, they could see a Victorian era style manor.

"Now that I think about it," Owl said, "we weren't given any quarters, where are we going to stay?"

"We can always stay in the forest." Raven said. "Besides, have you seen the number of cameras in this place? If we were given quarters I would be worried about being constantly watched."

Reaper let out a low growl, causing Owl to put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"All those favor of staying in the forest?" Snake asked, looking around. Every head in the squad nodded.

"All opposed?" Not a soul moved.

"It's settled, we will stay in the forest." Crow said. He liked the idea of cameras in their rooms as much as Reaper did.

Walking up to the manor, Crow knocked on the door but received no answer. He then tried the door and it opened. The group looked at each other before progressing inside. They heard voices coming from the second floor and headed toward them. They found squad 13 in the living room/common area talking about their latest sortie.

"Are you guys sure Mitsuru is going to be alright? A girl with long ashen-blond hair asked.

"Nana said he would be fine." A man with loose spiked hair said. "I'm more worried about Hiro. He has been having headaches off and on since our fight with that squad we retrieved a few days ago. It was the reason that Mitsuru was sent with Zero Two instead of Hiro."

"Do you mean us?" Raven asked, prompting Squad 13 to jump before getting in defensive stances.

"At ease, we are not here for a fight." Reaper said holding up a hand. "Who among you is your squad leader?" He asked.

"I am." A bluenette said, standing.

Reaper and his squad walked up to her before kneeling to her, heads bowed.

"We wish to apologize for our behavior when we first met. We acted irrationally, and attacked your squad without gathering more intelligence and realizing that you were not an enemy. For that we apologize."

Ichigo turned an interesting shade of red before saying,

"A-a-apology accepted. Please stop kneeling."

"Thank you, squad leader." Reaper said before he and his squad stood up. "May we have your and your squad's names?" He asked.

"Only if you give us yours." the boy with unruly light brown hair asked.

"Fair enough." Reaper said.

"Starting with myself, I am R-01, you may call me Reaper. I am my squad's leader. To my right is Snake, R-04," Snake inclined his head.

"To his right is Raven, R-02," she waved at the group.

"To my left is Cypress, R-05," she nodded a hello to the group.

"To her left is Crow, R-03," he bowed to the group.

Reaper smiled lightly, "And finally the one hiding just behind me is Owl, R-06," she shyly waved to the group.

"Don't mind her, she is very shy when it comes to meeting new people." He gave Owl a fond smile. "That's all of us."

"Well, I'm Ichigo, the blond boy over there is Goro, he is my stamen and we pilot Delphinium." Ichigo said.

"I'm Miku, Argentea's pistil and that goofball over there is Zorome, my stamen." Miku stated before she and Zorome started to get in an argument. Reaper's squad raised an eyebrow, but all Squad 13 did was roll their eyes, apparently this was a regular occurrence.

"I'm Futoshi and that lovely blond over there is Kokoro, my pistil, and we pilot Genista." A rather overweight boy stated nodding to the ashen-blond from earlier.

"I'm Ikuno, and my partner, although he is not here right now, is Mitsuru. We pilot Chlorophytum." A girl with deep purple hair stated.

"There is one more person missing from our group." Ichigo said.

"Two." Goro corrected.

"Fine two." Ichigo huffed. "The first is Hiro, a stamen, while the other is Zero Two the pistil for Strelitzia."

"Would Zero Two happen to be a girl with cherry blossom pink hair and two red horns?" Reaper asked.

"Yes" Miku answered, apparently having won their argument as Zorome was silently fuming.

"Ah, noted." Reaper said.

"Are you guys staying here?" Kokoro asked.

"At the plantation? I would assume so, as we have yet to receive orders to go elsewhere." Snake replied.

"Where are you staying at then?" Ikuno asked, as they did not have any spare rooms.

"I do not know as we were not given any quarters. When we saw this place we planned on staying in the surrounding forest, unless this is an inconvenience." Reaper said.

"It's not an inconvenience, but wouldn't that be uncomfortable for you guys?" Ichigo asked in shock.

Cypress laughed, "Not at all, this isn't the first time we've done this, and it certainly won't be the last.

Then an adult woman with long, wavy brownish-red hair and teal-green eyes burst in the room.

"Alright children you've got, oh your already here." She started to say before noticing Reaper squadron.

"And who are you ma'am?" Reaper asked politely.

"Oh! My apologies, I'm Nana, the caretaker of the parasites here in Plantation 13." She said before bowing.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Nana." Reaper said bowing back to her.

Nana continued with a light blush on her face from Reaper's words. "Since you are already here I assume that you have already introduced each other, in which case, Squad 13, you will have a mock battle with Reaper 1 at 0930 hours tomorrow."

"Reaper 1?" Futoshi asked.

"That's right, command has decided to give that name to their squadron." Nana said, gesturing toward Reaper and his squad.

"Depending on how they do in the mock battle, Reaper 1 will most likely be used as an auxiliary squad for Plantation 13." Nana said before turning to Reaper. "We have some provisional quarters made for you until we make an expansion on the boarding house for your rooms."

"No thanks, we have already found some place to stay." Reaper said.

Nana looked at him with a confused look before continuing. "Very well then, you are dismissed." And she left. Reaper looked at his squad out of the corner of his eyes.

"Well you heard her, dismissed." All his squad immediately disappeared. Reaper chuckled and said,

"Like children freed from class."

"Where did they all go?" Ikuno asked.

"To search for areas to do their favorite things. Snake, he's probably gone to find your library. I swear that man can smell a book from a mile away. Owl, she has probably gone to find someplace quiet to setup camp and rest, she likes her solitude. Cypress, she has gone to find a gym, she loves to work out. Raven and Crow are most likely off exploring and doing recon of the area. Now if you will excuse me, I will take my leave." Reaper said. He bowed to them once more before walking out the door.

"They definitely are different aren't they." Reaper heard Zorome say before he was out of earshot.

...

Sunset found Reaper meditating by the lake in Mistilteinn. Ever since thawing out, he hasn't been able to take time to get away and sort out his thoughts. After finding Owl and where she had decided to set up camp, he had told the others where the camp was and left them to their activities. The hours of silence had done wonders for his sanity and focus. The peaceful environment was soon broken by the sound of footsteps approaching. Reaper did not bother moving, if they were here to speak to him they would, otherwise he did not care what they did. He opened his eyes and looked over and saw that it was the two parasites that were missing from the meeting earlier, Hiro and Zero Two.

"How are you feeling Darling?" Zero Two asked.

"Better, but by no means perfect. I wish these headaches would go away, then I could have ridden with you again to save the others." Hiro said.

"Don't worry Darling, I'm sure the headaches will go away soon." Zero Two said, rubbing his temples in an effort to stave off the pain.

" _The effects from striking the horseshoe nerve cluster should have worn off by now."_ Reaper thought. _"This is clearly something else. I wonder…"_ He trailed off thinking of the machine they used to try and suppress their memories. It worked a lot like amnesia, where certain triggers or a hard-enough hit can cause the neural pathways to reform causing the memories to return. If he had the same type of thing done to him when he was younger, the hit to the temples could have easily caused the memories to start to return. The headaches being caused by the pathways reforming and the false memories being forced out. He closed his eyes again.

"If the one that hurt you shows up again I will make sure to beat him up for you, no one hurts Darling." Zero Two said vehemently.

"Zero Two that's not…" Hiro started to say before he was interrupted.

"If you wish to hit me, go right ahead. I deserve it." Reaper called, causing the two to jump. They must have not realized that he was there.

Reaper heard the sound of footsteps running toward him, but he did not move, expecting a blow that never came. When he opened his eyes once more to see why he had not been hit, he saw that Zero Two had stopped just before hitting him.

"You would have actually taken the hit." Zero Two said in shock.

"We acted out of line when we first meet." Reaper said closing his eyes. "We acted without gathering the proper amount of intel to make a decision as to whether you were a threat or not. As such, the failure to do so falls on my head as the squad leader, so, yes, I would have taken the hit as well as any other form of punishment you would have decided to dish out."

Reaper heard Hiro's footsteps approaching.

"What are you doing here?" Hiro asked.

"Pending the results of the mock battle between my squad and yours, we will be assigned as an auxiliary squad for Plantation 13. Most of the time we will probably be assigned to assist your squad when you need it as we have more experience in fighting Klaxosaurs than you, barring Zero Two that is."

"Where are you staying at then?" Zero Two asked.

"Until such time that the new quarters are built in your manor for us, we will be staying out here in the forest. Do not concern yourselves about us, we chose to live out here until they are complete. We will be joining you for your daily meals, so we'll be around. You will need to ask your squad leader, I believe her name was Ichigo, who the others are and what they look like." Reaper said. He then opened his eyes and stood up.

"I will however, introduce myself." Reaper said. "I am R-01, the squad leader of Reaper 1, which is the name your commanding officers have given my squad. You may call me Reaper." He bowed to the both of them.

"If you need us, we are camped out to the east of the lake." He said as he pointed to the camp. "We have already eaten for the night, so you need not wait for us to start dinner. Have a good evening you two." He said before walking off.

Hiro and Zero Two watched him walk away until he disappeared into the tree line. Zero Two was about to make a comment before Hiro got a notification on his communicator from Ichigo calling them to dinner. They promptly left.

…

Later that night at the Reaper camp, most of Reaper 1 was asleep except for Owl and Reaper. They had made a smokeless fire to keep themselves warm and Owl was trying her best to get Reaper to go to sleep.

"Reaper, you need to sleep. It's not healthy going until you collapse. You know that." Owl pleaded with him.

"I know Owl, but I can't sleep, I've slept too much, and something might happen. Someone needs to be awake." He replied.

"Reaper, we are in the safest place we can possibly be in right now. Nothing is going to happen." She retorted.

"I know Owl, but old habits die hard. I've pulled night watch ever since we became a squad, it's not something I can stop doing instantaneously." He said.

"Reaper," Owl said softly, "what would _**she**_ think if she saw you like this."

His eyes softened "Sigh, alright, alright, give me five more minutes, then I will bank the fire and try to sleep. You go ahead and go to bed we have to get up early tomorrow." He said.

She gave him a small smile and gave him a hug.

"Goodnight Reaper." she said before climbing a tree to join the others.

"Goodnight Owl." He said.

He stood and looked at the heart of the fire for 5 minutes before dousing it and climbing a tree and ending up on a branch higher than the others. He did not sleep that night, instead he watched over his squad, as he always had and as he always would.

 **A/N:** And end scene. Well that was a nice chapter don't you think? We had Reaper threatening people, Squad 13 and the newly name Reaper 1 making up and ending with a nice bit of fluff. As always criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	5. Chapter 5: A battle and A History Lesson

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 5: A Battle and A History Lesson

Owl awoke at 0630 hours on the dot. Due to their training, her body always woke up at this time. Looking down from the branch she was on, she saw Reaper on the ground oiling and sharpening his scythe, Harvester. Harvester was the two bladed, death dealer that Reaper used to kill Klaxosaurs. Its twin blades were as black as midnight, with the upper blade piercing through the handle a bit giving its backswing a bit of a bite. The handle itself was blood red and covered in numerous, needle like spikes, except for the grip, so that if an enemy were to try and grab Harvester, their hand would be impaled a thousand times over.

Owl jumped down and greeted Reaper. "Good morning."

"Morning." Reaper replied.

Owl looked at the dark circles under his eyes and sighed. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

"Nope."

She sat down across from him and summoned her scythe, Queen, to do some maintenance on it as well. Queen was a scythe with a single blade that was the color of fresh snow. Its handle was an ice blue with little snowflakes trailing down it. There was a smoke effect coming off it and, upon its summon, the temperature in the area seemed to drop 10 degrees. She polished her blade and retrieved her sharpening kit from her cloak before starting to sharpen it.

The next to awaken was Cypress. She dropped down and greeted the two before summoning her scythe and joining them. Her scythe, Guardian, was also a single bladed scythe, the blade was a light green. The handle was a forest green with poison ivy wrapped around it, aside from the grip. The next to wake and join them was Snake, and his scythe, Chronos. Chronos had a blade the color of rust with its handle being the color and texture of old bark. Then Raven woke up and joined them with Misery, and finally Crow joined them with his scythe, Tempest. Tempest had an electric yellow blade with a stormy gray handle. If one were to put a hand near the scythe, their hair would stand on end.

This was the scene that Kokoro came across when she was sent to retrieve them for Nana. She looked at them confused for a moment, wondering where the scythes came from before shaking her head and stating,

"Nana and Hachi would like to see you all in the briefing room, they have something they wish to discuss with you before the main briefing for the mock battle."

Reaper glanced at his communicator, it was only 0730 hours, two hours before the battle was supposed to start. Shrugging his shoulders Reaper said,

"Sure, and where is the briefing room at?"

Kokoro gave them the directions to the briefing room and then she left. Reaper 1 all banished their scythes and proceeded to the briefing room. When they arrived Hachi and Nana were already waiting.

"Excellent, you are here. We can now begin." Hachi said.

"It was brought to our attention that you had not been given a history update since you had arrived here. This is what we will be discussing. Tell me have any of you heard the name APE?" Nana asked.

The Reapers looked at each other, then nodded. Even before they were frozen, who hadn't heard of APE? They were the organization who solved the global energy crisis. Before APE, the world was suffering from an energy crisis that no one had an answer to. Oil wells were drilling the last of the oil supplies from the earth and all the coal mines had been tapped out. Alternative energy sources, like solar, wind or nuclear, for one reason or another, were not viable as a constant energy source. Several governments were on the brink of collapse, and more than once was Reaper 1 sent in to a country to quell rebellion and reestablish control. Then APE showed up with a solution, magma energy. An extremely efficient energy source with, seemingly, no drawbacks. The world jumped at the chance for a new energy source. Soon after magma energy was introduced things seemed to stabilize, APE went into the countries which were on the verge of collapse and stabilized them. This gave them extreme political sway, and soon they had a hand in all government functions worldwide, from economics to military to elections. They tried to get their hands in the Reaper Corps as well, but Reaper Command was having none of it.

Everything seemed perfect, then the Klaxosaurs showed up. They represented a massive threat that no one had an answer to. Normal bullets did not work on them and only the Reaper Corps. weapons could damage and kill them. Reaper squads were deployed worldwide to try and curb the threat but after the initial assault, the world had already lost a quarter of its population. Then APE came up with a solution to the problem. The answer was again, magma energy. Weapons infused with magma energy could damage and kill the Klaxosaurs.

The world superpowers, however, wanted a backup plan so to not lose more of the world's population. They came up the Ark Project. Their plan was to cryogenically freeze a portion of humanity so that, when humanity won like APE was promising, if humanity was all but destroyed, the Arks could be opened, and humanity would be revitalized. APE was the main opponent of the Ark Project, no doubt because they already had the plantation project in the works, and was nearly successful in shutting the project down. However due to extreme public backlash, they were forced to concede and let the project go forward. Only three Ark facilities were able to be completed however, due to another issue that came up, rapid desertification. The areas that had the magma energy drills established in began to experience rapid desertification. Funding had to be transferred to finding a solution to the issue and the Ark Project ground to a halt. Many blamed the issue on the magma energy extraction process, but APE was having none of it. When Reaper 1 was frozen, APE was starting to investigate into a solution to the problem.

"Good, that saves us some time." Nana said. "With the rapid desertification becoming a major issue and no clear solution being found, APE came up with the Plantation Project. The plantations were to be arks for humanity to live in, able to house millions of people inside of them. Over 100 plantations were built. While that was in the works humanity had stumbled across something big, the secret to immortality."

Reaper 1 immediately tensed up at this, but Nana did not seem to notice and continued.

"If a human was injected with a mixture infused with magma energy, they found that they stopped ageing. At first only the rich could afford the treatments but it was soon available to the general populace, but it came at a hefty price. Humanity lost its ability to reproduce. Eventually the Plantation Project was completed, and every human was loaded into a plantation. Then Dr. Franxx created the FranXX but its pilots needed to have reproductive organs. To operate a FranXX, it was discovered that it worked best with one male and one female pilot. Humanity had, at this point, long since stopped having children, so the Parasite Program was created. This program created the children that pilot the FranXX that defend us."

The female portion of Reaper 1 face's darkened. They understood the implications of that statement and soon the male half did too. Humanity had broken the Natural Laws. They were vat growing children to pilot the FranXX, they were playing _god_.

"That brings us to the present." Hachi said. "Today we travel around in the plantations defending humanity until this war is over. This is a war that you have been absent from until now. Due to your experience and age, Papa has given you a choice."

Hachi pulled out a bag with six syringes filled with an orange liquid inside and spread it out on a table in front of him.

"You may take the immorality injection and go to the inner city and live with the others that have chosen immortality, or you can reject the injection and continue to fight. This choice will only be offered once." Hachi said with a serious expression.

Reaper looked at his squad and they all gave him the same look. He turned back toward Hachi.

"I speak for all of us when I say we reject your injection. The Klaxosaur threat has yet to be eliminated so we cannot yet rest until it is." Reaper said.

"Are you sure?"

Reaper nodded.

"Very well." Hachi then put the bag back behind him.

"There is one more thing that we need to do." Hachi said. He then pointed to the panel behind him.

"We need you to link your communicators to Plantation 13's communication network so we can contact you directly instead of sending a runner to come find you."

Each Reaper walked over to the panel and held their communicator over it. The panel glowed for a moment before the Reaper comms gave out a beep, signifying that they were connected to the network. Hachi nodded.

"Good. Reconvene back here in an hour with Squad 13 and we will discuss who will battling with who. Dismissed." Hachi said before walking out, Nana following behind him.

As the Reapers walked back to the boarding house for breakfast, Snake said what was on everyone's mind.

"If _**he**_ doesn't know already. _**He**_ is going to be furious when he finds out."

"Agreed. _**He**_ was already very reluctant to grant that gift to us. When _**he**_ finds out all of humanity achieved immortality, without his consent, _**he**_ is not going to be happy." Raven said.

"Enough, we will discuss this later." Reaper said as they approached the boarding house. As they walked in they heard the sound of movement from upstairs.

"They are just now getting up?!" Owl asked in shock.

"Easy, they weren't trained like us, so they are going to be a bit slow in getting up."

They waited in the foyer for Squad 13, unsure as to whether they could go ahead and enter the dining hall and begin to eat. As Squad 13 started coming down the stairs Reaper noted that they each came from separate halves of the manor. " _They must keep the gender groups separated."_ Reaper thought. As the 13 descended the stairs, they saw Reaper 1 standing in the foyer.

"Why are you guys just standing there?" Miku asked.

"We were unsure as to whether you all did or said anything before starting to eat so we decided to wait until you had arrived before we entered." Reaper said.

"Oh! No not really, we just thank Papa for making our food before we started to eat." Ichigo said

"Ah." Reaper said before gesturing for 13 to enter the room before them. When Reaper 1 entered the room, they saw an enormous amount of food had been set out for the two groups. They also noticed that there were two additional tables within the room. All of Reaper 1 sat at one table while Squad 13 split up along gender lines and sat at two different tables with the exception of Hiro and Zero Two. Ikuno looked at Reaper 1 confused.

"Don't you guys eat in different groups?"

"Not at all. We've always eaten as a group like this." Raven said.

Ikuno shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her table. 13 thanked Papa for proving the food and began to eat. Reaper 1 got their own food and began to eat as well. Reaper watched with amusement as Zero Two absolutely drenched her food with honey. " _She must have quite the sweet tooth."_ Reaper thought with a chuckle. Too bad Reaper hadn't kept any of his Japanese candy, Reaper was sure she would have enjoyed it.

They quickly finished eating and made their way to the briefing room where Hachi and Nana were waiting.

"As we stated yesterday," Hachi began. "Today, we are going to do a mock battle between Reaper 1 and Squad 13."

Ichigo raised her hand.

"Question?" Hachi asked.

"What FranXX will they be using?" Ichigo asked.

"Three standard issue FranXX have been added to the hanger, they will be piloting those." Hachi said.

"Standard issue? Aren't our FranXX standard?" Kokoro asked.

"No, your FranXX are a custom type that we are trialing."

"They are using standard issue FranXX? Then that means this will be easy!" Zorome said.

"Oh, is that so? Then perhaps you like to go against Reaper and myself." Owl challenged.

"Yes!"

"Zorome!" Miku shouted.

"Very well, Argentea will go against R-01 and R-06's FranXX. Ikuno since your partner is still in medical you will have to sit this battle out. Also, Code 016, as Strelitzia has not been cleared, you and Zero Two will not be able to participate." Nana said, and Ikuno and Hiro nodded, Zero Two huffed in annoyance.

Ichigo then asked Reaper,

"Who are the other pairs?"

"Crow is paired with Raven, and Cypress is paired with Snake." He replied.

Ichigo glanced toward Goro and he nodded toward Cypress and Snake.

"Goro and I will take R-04 and R-05" Ichigo said.

Hachi nodded. "That means Code 556 and Code 214 will go against R-02 and R-03."

"Take your FranXX to the arena, we will begin in half an hour with R-01 and R-06's match." Hachi said.

Reaper 1 got into their FranXX as Squad 13, except for Chlorophytum and Strelitzia, piloted there's out of the hanger.

"Are you ready Owl?" Reaper asked.

"Yup." She replied, and Reaper commenced the connection, instantly connecting to her and causing their paracapacity levels to jump up to 119. Reaper then felt like he was being frozen all over again and his and Owl's bodies were covered in shadow before the sensation went away. _"What the…"_ Reaper thought before getting a message from the others in his squad.

"Did you guys feel that too?" Snake asked.

"If you mean the feeling of being frozen over and the shadows then yes." Crow said, and Raven nodded.

"Squad leader?" Snake asked.

"I felt it too. Don't worry about it right now. It's something we can investigate later. Focus." Reaper said as he walked over to where the training batons were before grabbing one, the others followed suit and exited the hanger.

"The reaction time is a bit chunky. The FranXX is not responding as fast as I'd like it to." Crow said, and Reaper jotted down the note into his communicator for later.

"Judging by the gage, these FranXX have small energy tanks." Snake said.

"The backup battery appears to run life support when the magma energy is not in use, might need to make a larger one of those as well." Reaper said as he was writing down Snake's comment on the energy tanks.

"If your quite finished, we have a battle to perform." Zorome said impatiently.

"Very well, Squad, take note of any other changes that might need to be made and bring them to me later." Reaper said before facing Argentea.

"Ready? BEGIN!" Hachi said.

Argentea started with an overhead strike which Reaper dodged. Zorome then tried a side strike which was again dodged, although barely.

"Doesn't have the agility I'm used to having. Gonna have to fix that." Reaper muttered, and Owl nodded in agreement.

Owl and Reaper then went on the offensive, landing a side strike of their own before getting a hit on Argentea's neck although it was not enough to drop her.

"What is it with you guys and the neck?!" Argentea shouted.

"It's the fastest way to knock a person out." Owl responded before striking Argentea in her unprotected chest causing her to fall backward. Owl and Reaper then straddled Argentea and began to rain hits on her which she blocked. They stalled their assault and when Argentea lowered her guard to see if it was all clear, Reaper was able to land a solid hit on Argentea's temple causing her faceplate to go blank, signifying that least one of them was unconscious.

"Argentea is down, the winner is R-01 and R-06." Nana said.

As Squad 13 rushed over to Argentea to check on Zorome and Miku, Reaper piloted their FranXX over to the rest of Reaper 1. As he checked on Owl to see how she was holding up, he saw that she was sweating.

"Owl are you alright?" Reaper asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Yea I'm fine, just took more out of me than I thought it would." she replied.

This bothered Reaper a great deal as he had felt no exertion from piloting the FranXX. A bad feeling was settling into his gut. When he looked over to Argentea and saw Miku and Zorome coming out of the cockpit, that feeling changed to harsh certainty. Zorome was carrying an unconscious Miku in his arms. Zorome was perfectly fine but Reaper could see several bruises forming on Miku's arms, in the same area that Argentea was using to defend herself from his and Owl's assault.

"That is going to have to be fixed immediately." Reaper said darkly.

As Delphinium and Cypress and Snake started their match, Reaper had a thought. _"I wonder..."_ Reaper held out the FranXX's right hand and concentrated, Owl, seeing what he was doing, didn't question it. Sure enough, the shadow portal that brought their scythes into being appeared, however the result was not what they were expecting. Not only did the scythe appeared to have scaled to the size of the FranXX, it was also a combination of both Reaper and Owl's scythes. The scythe was a twin bladed scythe, one blade was Reaper's midnight black while the other was Owl's pure white. The handle was the same ice blue of Queen was but had numerous red, needle like spikes like Harvester did. They then felt the same feeling of being frozen before the whole FranXX was covered in shadow, before disappearing again. _"What in the hell is causing that?"_ Reaper wondered. They then banished the combined scythe as to not make a scene. Reaper then noticed the others, Cypress and Snake's battle having concluded with them being the winner and Crow and Raven having finished their match a 30 seconds ago by shoving Genista outside of the ring, had also secretly summoned their scythes and found that they were combined as well.

Cypress and Snake's scythe had a green and brown blade with the handle looking like the trunk of a tree that had poison ivy wrapping around it. Crow and Raven's scythe had an electric blue blade with a blue-gray handle. Both of their FranXX were covered in shadow before it dissipated. They banished their combined scythes as well and looked at Reaper and Owl's mech with concern. "Later." Owl mouthed to them and they nodded. They then piloted their FranXX back into the hanger and then exited, Nana was waiting for them.

"Alright, given the overwhelming results of the battles you all will act as an auxiliary squad for Plantation 13. While you guys were battling, our construction crews got started on your living quarters, it should be finished by tomorrow." Nana said, and Reaper and the rest of his squad nodded.

"If you have nothing to ask of me then that will be all. Dismissed." she said before walking away. Reaper saw Squad 13 walking toward them.

"Jeeze, you guys don't hold back, do you?" Goro said.

"Seriously, what the hell?!" Zorome shouted.

"Calm down Zorome." Ichigo said. "We're fine, for the most part." she said rubbing her sore arm, apparently Snake and Cypress can pack quite the wallop.

"It was the fastest way we could take you down without causing serious injury." Crow said.

"Serious injury?! Miku is still unconscious!" Zorome said.

"Reaper hit her in the horseshoe nerve cluster that runs across your forehead to your temples." Snake explained. "She should wake up in an hour or two, she will have a headache and some bruising but nothing more."

Zorome grumbled but did not respond.

"Come on guys, let's go check on Mitsuru and see if he is awake yet to tell us what happened in there." Hiro said, and Squad 13 turned and started to go toward medical. Reaper narrowed his eyes at Hiro, he was showing no signs of the headaches from yesterday.

"That is some powerful memory suppression." Reaper muttered to himself. "I'm going to have to do something about that before it becomes a problem." Reaper 1 then followed Squad 13 to the medical facility, from what they had heard, Mitsuru might simply be lost, and Reaper should be able to provide some directions.

It was just after sunset when Reaper 1 returned to medical. When they had visited the boy earlier, Reaper's suspicions had been all but confirmed. The boy's body was there but he was not. As 13 gathered around his bed and started worrying about his recovery, Reaper 1 vowed to return later to try and guide the boy back.

After making sure that there was no nurse around Reaper wrapped his hand in shadow and placed it on Mitsuru's forehead before closing his eyes. He stood stock still for around two minutes before opening his eyes and stepping away. He then turned to his squad.

"As we thought, he had gotten lost. I gave him a few directions to get back to his body, he should wake by morning." Reaper said.

They then left medical and made their way to the hanger where their FranXX were stored.

"Alright, we are going to be pulling an all-nighter. You've got 12 hours to make any changes you want to your FranXX as well as give it a name. Go." Reaper said.

Each Reaper broke off into pairs and went to their assigned FranXX and started work. On the top of everyone's list, adjustment of the damage mechanism.

 **A/N:** And done. So, what did you all think? Not as long as the previous chapter but I think I did well. I need suggestions for the names of the combined scythes, something that would work well with the descriptions I gave. Whoever's names I choose I will give a shout out to you in the next author's note. In this chapter I address something that I see as very wrong in the anime. If the FranXX takes damage, the damage is transferred to the pistil. If the Staman makes a mistake, whether it be failing to block a hit or not dodging in time, it should be the staman who takes the damage, not the pistil. If you disagree, send me a PM and we can discuss it. Ok I'll get off my soap box now. But anyways, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	6. Chapter 6: Gaia Class

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 6: Gaia class

 **At APE HQ Time: unknown**

"There has been a marked increase in Klaxosaur activity, within the last month alone two more sub-bases have been established in priority areas." Papa said. "There has been Moho class and above showing up everywhere which is unprecedented."

"The Nines are dealing with them for now, but they have other tasks to complete as well." An APE said.

"How long are we going to let Strelitzia goof off? Now that the special specimen's aptitude has been ascertained, there is no reason to leave it there any longer." Another APE said.

"Indeed. It isn't wise to let her mix with the tainted stamens anymore." Marmoset said.

"What about Reaper 1?" An APE asked.

"Retrieve them as well, they can be useful elsewhere or with the Nines." Papa said.

 **...**

 **Plantation 13**

"A demon... She is a demon. You would have to be insane to ride with her. She'll kill you." Mitsuru said clutching his head. Mitsuru had been saying this or other things along the same line since he woke up a few days ago. He had yet to touch any food or drink given to him.

Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were standing outside the medical ward within Mistilteinn watching. The Reapers were internally scoffing at the thought that Zero Two was a demon, however bad she may be, she was not a demon, the Klaxosaurs were the true demons. While Squad 13 was concerned about his mental health. Hiro suddenly grew determined and enter the room.

"Mitsuru..." he asked. "What happened with Zero Two?"

"What...Happened?" Mitsuru said glaring at Hiro. "That girl tried to devour everything I have. My flesh, blood, and my soul...All of it! Everything was normal at first, but after a point, Sh-she was out to kill me."

"Mitsuru..." Hiro started to say before Mitsuru lunged out of bed to grab Hiro's collar.

"What's worse, she had a smile on her face! She was smiling the entire time!" he shouted.

"Mitsuru!" Kokoro said.

"Calm down, man!" Futoshi said.

"Ride with her again, and the same will happen to you." Mitsuru said. "You'll end up like me, too. You're out of your mind if you think you are the sole exception! She is called the Partner Killer for a reason!"

" _Partner Killer?"_ Reaper thought. He filed that tidbit of information away for later. Resolving to look up more on Zero Two later.

"Cut it out, Mitsuru!" Futoshi said, pulling him away from Hiro before Mitsuru fell unconscious again.

"Look, just lie down." Futoshi said, as he and Kokoro placed him back on the bed and tucking him back in.

Ichigo walked up to Hiro. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Later as Squad 13 is enjoying some time off Ichigo approaches Hiro.

"Do you still want to ride with her? After what she did to Mitsuru I can't bring myself to trust her. Assuming that the rumor she is a partner killer is true, if you ride with her two more times, you could die."

"Even so, as long as I can be useful, I will continue to ride with Zero Two." Hiro said.

Standing in the shadow of the door leading to their quarters, having been completed two days ago, Owl shook her head and sighed.

"Oh Hiro, there is so much more to life than just being useful." She then turned and walked off.

...

Later, in the elevator with the inner city in background in all its orange glory, Zero Two was standing with Nana and Hachi, Hachi was speaking.

"Yes, the Klaxosaurs need to be killed. But, that doesn't mean you get free reign."

"You did not need to use that much power to kill those Klaxosaurs. But, because you did we nearly lost one of our squad. Are you even listening to me?" Nana said.

"I wanna leave, I feel like I'm gonna suffocate in here." Was all Zero Two said, looking out the window.

"Why, you..." Nana started to say.

"As long as I have my Darling, I don't care about this place. The rest will probably die soon, anyway. Aside from Reaper 1, that is." Zero Two said, thinking about Reaper and his squad. If they could best her, they would be just fine.

"Zero Two, those kids are your fellow FranXX pilots, even if you belong in different units.

"Fellow pilots, are you serious?" she said turning back toward them. "The only ones I consider my fellow pilots are Reaper 1. The others are only a nuisance, no matter how many there are."

"They may be an irregular squad," Hachi said. "but they're parasites carefully chosen for their high aptitude."

"Really? Those guys?"

"You only feel that way because _you_ are special."

Zero Two glared at him. "Are you talking about how I'm not human?"

"I'm talking about your abilities and nothing else. Also, it is highly unlikely that 016 will be authorized to pilot Strelitzia."

"What do you mean?"

"We received word from HQ earlier. You are to return to the front lines."

Zero Two narrowed her eyes at him.

 **...**

 **POV Change: Reaper POV**

As I was meditating by the lake, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching my position. From the amount of pressure put into each step, I could tell that it was Ichigo.

"Hello Ichigo." I said as I opened my eyes.

"How did you know it was me? Your eyes were closed." she said.

"Training." I replied. "Also, meditation heightens the senses making it easier to identify things, in this case, I heard your footsteps over a quarter of a mile away and the amount of pressure you applied in your footsteps allowed me to identify that it was you approaching."

She hummed in response.

"But, I can tell that you did not come here to listen me ramble on about meditation. So, what is it that you need Ichigo?" I asked.

"You have been your squad's leader for a long time, haven't you?" She asked

"Indeed. I lead my squad for around 10 years before we were frozen. Why do you ask?"

"How did you get your squad to listen to your orders without hesitation?"

I lightly smiled. _"She is willing to try and learn, that's good"_ I thought.

"Two things." I said holding up two fingers.

"Experience," I said holding up one finger. "and trust." I held up the other finger.

"Experience comes with time, so you need to focus on earning their trust."

"How do I earn their trust?" she asked.

" _Did they teach these children nothing about leading a squad?"_ I despaired.

"Well, trust is a two-way street. To get their trust, you must give them yours. Right now, your squad follows your orders because they have to. The trick is to make them follow your orders because they want to. They need to know that you have their best interests in mind when you give an order."

"Where do I start though?"

"Well from what I heard your first sortie did not go too well, right?"

She dropped her head in shame and mumbled a yes

"Start there. You made some mistakes yes, but everyone does during their first mission. Go to them, admit your mistakes. Tell them you want nothing more than to ensure the plantation's protection and to make sure everyone gets back safely." I said.

She gave me a hug and I stiffened, not used to non-hostile contact, before letting go.

"Thank you! It's been so difficult to do this by myself." she said.

"No problem, if you have any more questions you can come ask myself or Owl."

"Thank you again." she said before walking off.

I chuckled a bit before going back to my meditation. Half an hour passed before an alarm went off signifying a Klaxosaur attack. _"*sigh*, no rest for the weary."_ I thought before getting up to go find my squad.

...

 **POV change: Third Person POV**

When Reaper and his squadron got to the briefing room, most of Squad 13 had already deployed. As Reaper 1 went to go to their FranXX Nana stopped them.

"Reaper 1 stay here. They need to be able to defeat a Klaxosaur by themselves." Nana said. Reaper's suspicions were immediately raised. How did they know that they would be able to handle a Klaxosaur by themselves if they had never fought one in their FranXX?

"What kind of Klaxosaur is it?" They heard from over the comms.

"We don't know. The dust obscuring it is too thick to get a good look at it." Nana replied.

At that time Hiro and Zero Two came running into the room. Without turning to look at them Nana said,

"Putting on your uniforms will not help, you have not been cleared to deploy."

"I didn't say anything." Zero Two said.

Reaper idlily noted that two military transports had landed in the hanger but was more concerned with trying to identify what type of Klaxosaur 13 was about to face, and he had a sinking feeling he knew what it was.

When Squad 13 reached the Klaxosaur it was revealed what it was, and the Reapers grimaced.

"So what kind of Klaxosaur is it?" Zorome asked.

"I... don't know." Nana said looking at the Klaxosaur.

"It doesn't matter what it is, we need to kill it!" Ichigo said as Squad 13 leapt onto the Klaxosaur and began to unload their weapons into it causing it to collapse.

"It's never that easy..." Reaper mumbled

"Did we kill it?" Argentea asked.

"No, I think we missed the core." Goro replied.

"Well then let's... Ahhhh!" Argentea screamed as a second head came out of the ground behind her and grabbed her. The other head began to move again and tried to grab the others.

"Yep, that's what I was afraid it was." Reaper said, causing Nana to look at him.

"That's a Gaia class, Worm type to be exact" Reaper said.

"Gaia class Klaxosaurs are very rare. Very hard to kill as their cores are difficult to get to, they can easily level a large city and are very dangerous." Snake said.

"We faced a Gaia class called a Kraken in Asia one time. Its mouth was the size of a plantation." Reaper replied.

"...Who are those transports for?" Zero Two interrupted.

Just after she said that the door to the briefing room opened and several armed guards entered the room pointing their weapons at Zero Two and Reaper 1. Reaper and Owl went to summon their scythes but were stopped by Crow and Cypress.

"Your escorts." Nana said "Don't make this harder than it needs to be Zero Two. Also, Reaper 1 you have been reassigned elsewhere."

"Code 002, you are coming with us." a guard said and placed a hand on her shoulder. Big mistake.

"Don't touch me!" Zero Two shouted and threw the guard across the room where he landed in a heap. Instantly there were red sights all over Reaper 1 and Zero Two.

"What is going on?" Hiro pleaded.

"We have run out of time Darling." Zero Two said, her voice filled with melancholy. "I really thought that we could do it. I wanted nothing more than to be able to stay here and be with you." She leans her head down so that her horns touch his forehead. Hiro seems surprised by the act but does not draw away. Zero Two then backs off and says with tears beginning to form in her eyes, "bye-bye."

"Move." One of the soldiers say and Zero Two and Reaper 1 walk out the door. As they began to walk down the hallway the Reapers began to develop a plan to escape. They couldn't just make a run for it, as that would put Zero Two in danger. Bullets couldn't hurt them, they weren't so sure about her.

As they walked Reaper and the others heard rapidly approaching footsteps and by the look on Zero Two's face she did two, causing her to slow down considerably. As they reached the escalator they heard the door access being denied and someone banging on glass. Reaper looked down and Hiro was trying to force his way into the hallway.

"Hey, wait!" Hiro said. "Zero Two! I admit, I was scared to ride with you again and frankly I still am. But it has nothing to do with the fact that you aren't human! It's because I was not confident in my own abilities. When I first meet you, I couldn't take my eyes off you. And later, in the fight you didn't hesitate, throwing yourself back in despite your injuries. I found that beautiful. I've spent the last few months moping around, but in the time I spent with you, I felt like I could fly again! It made me realize that it didn't matter if I could ride in any FranXX. I only care about riding in yours! you're the most amazing person I've ever met! So please, don't leave me!"

Zero Two stopped walking. "Well, how can I leave after hearing that?"

Zero Two backflipped and landed on one of the guards, planting her left foot deep in his chest sending him crashing into the wall. She then grabbed his gun and ran down the banister firing into the glass above the door causing it to crack before launching herself at it causing it to break. While this was going on the Reapers quickly summoned their scythes and made short work of the remaining guards. When Zero Two and Hiro danced back through the barrier, literally, as this was the only way to get Hiro through the barrier, they saw the bodies of the guards and the blood dripping off the Reaper's scythes. Hiro looked in shock while Zero Two just let off a small smirk as Reaper said,

"You don't point a weapon at us and expect to live long."

Zero Two smile a small bit before taking Hiro's hand again and beginning to run.

"Run for it!" Zero Two shouted.

Reaper 1 quickly followed behind the two, keeping up easily, while poor Hiro was practically being dragged behind her. As they made it to the hanger bay they saw that their FranXX were loaded into the two transports and were awaiting take off. Owl and Reaper's FranXX, the newly named Black Rose, was resting beside Strelitzia. The other two FranXX, named Lotus and Digitalis were in the transport next to them.

For the most part the newly designed FranXX looked similar to their owners, they were all covered in a metal cloak that covered the body up to the eyes. The FranXX also had a hood on their heads that, when pulled forward caused a mask to descend activating a modified Stampede mode, they had quickly found out about that little drawback and modified it to be more like a power-up. It could be seen however, that Lotus was more agile than the others, meant for hit and run attacks versus Digitalis which was bulkier and built to take more hits, Black Rose was a combination of the two. As they entered the hanger, the guards quickly figured out what they were trying to do and tried to stop them. Zero Two ran up to the first guard that was in her way before jumping and kicking him in the chest with both feet before popping back up and continuing on. The Reapers soon got in front of them and cut down anyone in their path with their scythes.

As they entered the cockpits of the FranXX, Nana's face appeared on the HUD.

"All of you, get out of there right now!"

"I can't I'm going out with my Darling." Zero Two said.

"Reaper 1?" she was practically begging.

"Those children need help, and that Gaia class has got to go." Owl said before terminating the connection.

The guards in the hanger quickly realized what was about to happen and evacuated the area. It was fortunate that they did as Strelitzia blew out one of the sides of the transport retrieving her spear.

"Let's fly, Darling!" Zero Two said before she activated her jets, flying off. Reaper 1 was not far behind her, pouring on the speed.

Strelitzia arrived a full 10 seconds before Reaper and his squadron did, slamming into both Klaxosaurs, causing them to release Squad 13.

"Strelitzia?!" Delphinium said as she was being thrown.

Black Rose dashed forward and caught Delphinium before she hit the ground. Digitalis doing the same for Genista and Lotus catching Argentea before dashing off to catch Chlorophytum as well.

"Who…" Delphinium trailed off not recognizing your FranXX.

"It's good to see your still alive Ichigo." Reaper said with a smile.

"Reaper?! How…When…" Delphinium asked confused.

"You kids needed help, so we came." Black Rose said. "We've been working on these for the past three nights, scavenging for the parts we needed."

"Why are you guys here? We are supposed to do this ourselves!" Mitsuru said.

"We work as a team!" Lotus said. "Let us help!"

"Fine, Strelitzia, you deal with that one," Ichigo said, pointing to the tail like end. "And we will handle this one." And the two groups dashed off to handle their respective Klaxosaur.

Black Rose turned to look at the other two FranXX.

"No more hiding it." Reaper said, and they all nodded. Each FranXX held out their right hand and began to summon their scythes.

...

Nana was the epitome of confusion. First, not only had Hiro and Zero Two disobeyed orders, but Reaper 1 did too. Then she looked at the trail of carnage that followed Reaper 1 through the hanger, trying to figure out where they had gotten those weapons, since Plantation 13 had none of the sort of scythes that they had. In fact, they didn't have scythes at all, as they were something that had been phased out years ago.

She was getting very concerned for Squad 13's health as it seemed like Reaper 1 had no qualms with killing anyone who got in their way. She was just thinking about getting the two groups separated when she glanced at the screen and saw Reaper 1's FranXX holding out their right hands.

The FranXX in themselves were another source of confusion as well. How did they manage to get to the spare FranXX? They were in a sealed storage bay for Papa's sake! Yet the technicians came to her this morning telling her that the stored FranXX had been stripped for parts and were beyond repair. More importantly, when did they do this?! The cameras saw nothing! Yet they were able to completely strip three FranXX for parts and modify their own without them ever leaving the hanger bay or being seen. How?!

Her confusion quickly turned to shock as she saw three massive scythes rising out of some type circular shadow that had appeared on the ground. The squadron quickly grabbed the scythes and split off to help Squad 13. She was going to have so many questions for them when they got back.

...

At the same time in Dr. Franxx's office, he was watching what was unfolding on the screen as well with extreme interest.

"So that's how they do that. Umbrakinesis." He would have to ask them how they did it when they returned. If he were to combine shadow manipulation with magma energy, they would be unstoppable. Think of the potential!

...

Back with Reaper 1, they each grabbed their respective scythes and waited for orders.

"Lotus, Digitalis, you two go help Squad 13. They are going to need the most help dealing with this thing. We are going to help Strelitzia." Reaper said.

"Yes sir!" They replied before splitting off to help the others. When Black Rose reached Strelitzia she had just blown the armor off the tail like Klaxosaur, but all that had done was piss it off causing it to lunge out and grab them. Reaper quickly ran and dragged his scythe, Nightmare, along the exposed flesh of the Klaxosaur causing it to shriek and release Strelitzia. The Klaxosaur tried to retreat back into the ground.

"Oh no you don't." Reaper said, as he buried Nightmare into the Klaxosaur, temporarily pinning it to the ground.

"Hiro! You need to pull it out of the ground! Escape is its greatest defense!" Black Rose said as the Klaxosaur managed to free itself from the scythe pinning it down, throwing Black Rose into the air.

"You got it!" Strelitzia said as she pursued the escaping Klaxosaur into the ground.

All was quiet for a moment before the earth trembled as Strelitzia shot back out of the ground, Klaxosaur in tow. She gave a mighty yank, and the Klaxosaur was torn out of the ground. Like Reaper had suspected, it was, in fact, one Klaxosaur, as 4000 feet away the head was suddenly jerked back as its body was pulled out of the ground.

"It's a rather small one isn't it, Reaper?" Snake said over the comms.

"Indeed." He replied.

"That's small?!" Zorome said.

"Yes, they are usually about a 2 to 3 miles long." Snake said.

"Uh, with something that big it's going to be really hard to find the core." Goro said.

"It's still the only way to kill it." Delphinium said.

"Pin it down! We need to keep it from moving." Lotus said.

"Right!" Everyone said.

All of Reaper 1 buried their scythes into the Klaxosaur, Argentea planted her claws while Genista stabbed her bayonet into it as well. Delphinium stuck her spear-swords in its mouth to prop it open while Chlorophytum helped her hold it.

"Alright, now what?" Argentea asked.

"Hi-Hiro, we could use a little help!" Delphinium cried.

Strelitzia looked at Black Rose who gave her a small nod, before she jumped, igniting her thrusters, and doing a beautiful backflip and landing at the head of the worm. Seeing what they were trying to do, Strelitzia activated her thrusters again, holding her lance aloft. As she passed by Delphinium, Strelitzia gave a wink and smirk followed by a "Hmph" from Zero Two, causing Delphinium to gasp.

Strelitzia then tore through the worm searching for its core. About 20 seconds later she shot out the other side with the core impaled on her lance. The worm shuddered for a moment before exploding into a shower of blue blood.

" _Another Gaia class defeated. That brings our total kill count up to 4."_ Reaper thought to himself. As the two groups got back together, Squad 13 was openly gaping at the scythes that Reaper 1 had.

"Those are not magma energy weapons." Goro said accusingly.

"No, they are not." Crow agreed, before banishing his scythe, the others following suit, causing 13's jaws to drop even farther, if it were possible.

"How did…" Zorome started to say before Black Rose held up a hand.

"We will answer your questions when we get back to the plantation. I'm sure command, as well as that annoying doctor, have many questions for us as well." She said, and they proceeded back to base.

As Reaper 1 exited their FranXX they were greeted by an annoyed Hachi, a confused Nana, and a giddy Dr. Franxx.

"Zero Two, Hiro, and Reaper 1 come with us, Squad 13 you are dismissed." Hachi said.

Reaper stopped them. "Let them come, they have as many questions as you do, and it is best to answer them all in one sitting."

"Very well, all of you come with us." Hachi said and they proceeded toward the briefing room.

As everyone entered the room Hachi then rounded on Reaper 1 and began tearing into them.

"You disobeyed a direct order, assaulted and killed several APE personnel," Squad 13's jaws dropped again at that, "stole 4 FranXX, and recklessly interfered in a sortie-" Hachi began saying before being interrupted.

"But, in the end, you saved Squad 13 from certain death. Nana said. "For that, we are willing to overlook what you did just this once. Don't let it happen again." Nana finished icily.

Dr. Franxx then stepped forward.

"For the sake of the children, can you explain what it was you did out there? As well as explain how you got your powers.

Reaper turned to Squad 13. "What we did out there was a very basic application of Umbrakinesis, that is, shadow manipulation. We can store and banish items to the shadow realm for retrieval later and summon them via shadow portals."

As an example, Reaper summoned and banished Harvester. He then turned back to Dr. Franxx. "As for how we got our… abilities. They were given to us by someone who's name we cannot say. In return, we swore to serve him and do as he asks. We still do to this day, although we have not had an order from him in several years."

"Can your abilities be taught to others?" Dr. Franxx asked.

"No." Crow replied sharply. "Umbrakinesis cannot be taught, transferred, or given to anyone unless you meet _**him**_. And trust us when we say you do not want to meet _**him**_."

Dr. Franxx opened his mouth to ask another question but Owl quickly shut that question down.

"No, Doctor. What unholy union you are about to propose would be the best way for us to receive orders to kill you." Owl said coldly.

The Doctor sat back, a bit depressed about that.

"One more thing, Papa has reversed his decision on transferring you. You get to stay." Hachi said.

Reaper 1 said nothing but they all had smiles on their faces while Zero Two had wrapped Hiro in a hug. Alarms began to go off before the Plantation suddenly rumbled before lifting and beginning to move.

"Calm down children," Nana said as Squad 13 began to panic. Reaper 1 merely braced themselves before looking about in confusion. "the plantation has shifted to its mobile configuration and has begun moving toward plantation 26. There will be a kissing operation within the next 72 hours."

"Meet here at 0900 hours for briefing on the kissing operation, dismissed." Hachi said before turning his back to them. Dr. Franxx had left some time ago, mumbling to himself about something. Reaper and his squad knew that they had to keep an eye out for that man, too ambitious for his own good. Both Reaper 1 and Squad 13 left for their quarters.

...

Later that night, Reaper walked back into the briefing room, to look up some information about Zero Two and the kissing operation. He knew that the computer in the library of the boarding house would be of no use as it was restricted, but the consoles in here would be connected to the main network.

Reaper walked up to the console and started with the kissing operation, as that was more pressing than satisfying his curiosity of Zero Two. He learned that it was when two plantations connected to transfer their magma energy reserves. The Klaxosaurs, being drawn to the large amounts of magma energy within the pipe, would come in the hundreds. Early reports were already showing that large numbers of Conrad class Klaxosaurs were gathering at something called a sub-base, several hundred miles from the planned kissing site. There were also several reports about a large, box shaped, Klaxosaur being at the sub-base as well. They had no idea what it could be though and neither did Reaper. Although he did note that the information that he had given on the Gaia class had been added to the Klaxosaur database.

He then cycled to Zero Two. When he called up her profile, he saw the usual, height, weight, hair color etc. but when he tried to go deeper he found he was locked out.

"Access Restricted huh, we'll see about that." He said as he pulled out a Hacker.

Sticking it into one of the ports on the console, it quickly got to work. Smashing thorough firewalls, encryption, and antiviruses as if they were paper. All without tripping any alarms within the system. He was quickly granted access. The more he read of her files the angrier he got.

"So, they took blood from something called a Klaxo-sapian and mixed it with human blood to create a new species. A hybrid of the two. They were playing _fucking_ god!" Reaper raged, his eyes glowing a burning red.

"And to top it all off, they _tortured_ her to see what it was she could do!" If they hadn't already sworn to protect the plantation, that doctor would have been dead come daylight. As he continued to read, he finally got to the part addressing why she was called a partner killer. As he read, his blood ran cold.

" _No pilot has been able to survive over three rides?"_ He thought to himself, quickly doing some calculations. _"The only ride that we know I know of is the one he took earlier today, but from the way Squad 13 was talking there had to be one ride before that point. That means his third ride would be…"_

"During the kissing operation." He said in horror.

He quickly backed out of the console and removed the Hacker. He then grew determined.

" _No. I will not let that boy die. Zero Two must be aware that she could kill him on that last ride, so she shouldn't go overboard, she seems to like him too much for that. But just in case, I'm going to have to install both a vitals monitor, and a direct comm link to Black Rose so I can tell Zero Two when she is pushing him too far."_ He thought. He quickly walked out of the briefing room to set out on his assigned task. He would have to inform the rest of his squad what he had learned, but that could be done once everything else was completed.

 **A/N:** And done. So, what did you think? Reaper and his squad were able to get Dr. Franxx to back off, for now. That man, however, has by no means given up yet. Umbrakinesis is a field of research that is too interesting for that man to ignore. What do you think will happen with the kissing operation now that the Reapers are there? Who knows, only I do. But as always, reviews criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	7. Chapter 7: Memories

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 7: Memories

 **A/N:** *Looks at Reviews section* Awful quiet in here this week. If there was something about the last chapter you all didn't like, please by all means tell me, or if you don't like the story in general, tell me why. I take all criticism good or bad, general hate however I will ignore. But anyway, enjoy!

* * *

 **Later that night**

 **T-minus 72 Hours until Contact**

The kissing operation was about to begin. Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were looking down from Mistilteinn, as the connection procedure was taking place.

"So, what is kissing?" Zorome asked.

"It is when two plantations transfer magma energy. It is done through that large pipe down there." Ikuno said, pointing to the pipe connecting the two plantations.

"Magma energy is essential for us as well as the adults to keep living, without it, we can't power the FranXX, and thus we can't defend ourselves" Mitsuru said.

"With such a large transfer of magma energy, it's going to draw a large number of Klaxosaurs." Goro said.

"How many?" Zorome asked nervously.

"Hundreds, easily." Reaper said.

"Don't worry, we have Strelizia, we will be fine." Hiro reassured them.

…

 **The next morning**

 **T-minus 60 Hours until Contact**

The next morning there was a grand ceremony held treating both squad 13 and Squad 26 like VIPs. Zero Two did not attend and neither did the Reaper 1. Zero Two, because she was not invited, and Reaper 1 was because they did not care for such things, they could celebrate after the kissing was completed.

Later that day, Reaper noticed that Hiro was having trouble with headaches again while he was showing Zero Two around the boarding house. Reaper had the suspicion that, while he was showing her about the manor, it was triggering a memory recall from earlier in his life that the suppression was attempting to cover up. He knew that by doing such things, while painful at the time, would lead to less issues later on.

Squad 13, however, saw differently. They saw the headaches as Zero Two's doing and sought to keep her away from him whenever possible. After the house tour, in which Crow had learned Zero Two was now staying in the boarding house, Squad 13 did everything in their power to keep the two apart. From constantly having Hiro occupied with doing something with them or just keeping Zero Two away. The headaches however did not go away, so they eventually turned to Nana to help. She then gave Hiro some medication from Papa to help but it only seemed to make it worse.

Snake had the feeling that the "medication" that Hiro was given was not headache medication. So, when Hiro was otherwise occupied he snagged a few pills from the bottle to test them himself. What he found however concerned him, so he went to Reaper about it.

…

"Reaper, we have a problem." Snake said to him, interrupting his meditations.

"What is it Snake?

"It appears that the 'medication' given to Hiro doesn't do what it says it does."

"What?" Reaper said snapping his eyes open and looking at Snake sharply.

"When I analyzed the medication given, I found several chemicals that help with memory suppression. The medication given is used to keep the suppressed memories, suppressed, instead of helping with the headaches caused by them."

Reaper's distrust for Papa grew. "That is unacceptable."

"Go get Owl and dig into our first aid supplies, get him some real headache pills. Destroy the ones that they gave him. He needs to get whatever memories that were repressed back. They have something to do with Zero Two, and as her partner he has the right to know what was hidden from him."

"Their bodies are different from ours, don't we run the risk of making the situation worse?" Snake asked.

"Before earlier today, I would have said yes. However, after looking through the doctor's notes on Squad 13, it seems they are more similar to us than the other parasites. They should work just fine."

"Very well sir." Snake said.

…

"Hiro, may I borrow you for a while?" Reaper asked.

Hiro looked at him confused. "Uh, sure." He said, getting off the wall he was leaning on.

"Come." Reaper said and started walking to the forest, Hiro following.

After a bit of silence, Hiro asked,

"What is it that you wanted Reaper?"

"I wished to ask about the headaches you have been having lately. From what Crow tells me, whenever you have one of these headaches, you keep muttering something about seeing a little girl with red horns. What is it that you are seeing?"

Hiro cursed. He said nothing for a while as they walked. He eventually said,

"I keep seeing a little girl with red skin and red horns, and someone else but everything else is blurry. I don't understand why I'm seeing these things. I have a feeling that she is important, but I don't know why."

They eventually reached the lake that Reaper often meditated at.

"I would like you to try something, Hiro." Reaper said.

"What?"

"It's called meditation. It's an ancient method of focusing one's mind."

"What does this have to do with what I am seeing?"

"You will see. Meditation is best done in a quiet place like this one, some place with minimal distractions. Sit like I am. This is called the lotus position."

Hiro tried his best, but couldn't seem to mimic the position Reaper was in.

"Don't strain yourself. It is probably best if you sat in the quarter lotus position, since you don't have my flexibility. Sit with both feet below your knees, hands on your thighs with your palms facing down. Next keep your spine as straight as possible and close your eyes.

Hiro did as he said and closed his eyes.

"Now, take a deep breath, and empty your mind."

"Empty my mind?" Hiro asked, looking at Reaper incredibly.

"Another way to think about it is this, stop thinking. Let your thoughts wander where they will."

Hiro closed his eyes and tried to do as he was told but Reaper could see that he was still having issues, so he started talking, to give Hiro something to focus on.

"You have lived in a structured society for all your life, constantly having one thing to focus on. This is reflected in your way of thinking, as you focus on one thing at a time before jumping to the next thing. This is good for keeping self-control, but it inhibits the mind from thinking creatively, and this could have deadly consequences in the midst of battle. When you allow your mind to wander, it is easier to see the big picture, or see details you could not before."

Reaper could see Hiro sinking into a meditative state and smiled.

"With the images that you are seeing, you are doing the same thing, focusing on one detail instead of everything all together. Think of the images that you have been seeing like a painting. If you focus too much on one particular detail, everything else becomes blurry and the meaning of it is lost. If you look at it as a whole however…"

Reaper heard Hiro suck in a breath and he knew that his words had hit home.

"…the meaning becomes clearer."

"The Garden." Hiro breathed.

" _The Garden?"_ Reaper thought but filed that question away for later.

Hiro opened his eyes and let out a huge breath. He was shocked to see that he was covered in sweat and felt tired.

"Why do I feel so tired?" Hiro asked.

"Your still new to meditation, as such you can only hold such a state for so long before getting tired. Take an hour or two for a break and come back and try again. If you try to reach such a state too soon, you will only do more harm to yourself than good."

"How long can you hold that state?" Hiro asked, curious.

"The longest I've held that state is seven hours. I usually don't hold it for such great lengths of time though, usually four to five hours at the most. Also, do note that while you are in such state you will tune out your surroundings. As you meditate more and more, you will be able to let your thoughts wander but still keep notice of your surroundings, but as you are new, most of your energy goes into maintaining the state and your mind ignores all other sensory input."

"Thank you, Reaper, for showing me this." Hiro said.

"Anytime." Reaper replied.

…

Owl stretched as she walked down the hallway toward the main part of the manor, later that day. She had just awoken from her nap and was going to find Raven to talk strategy for the upcoming operation, when she noticed Reaper's door was ajar and the light was on. This was not unusual as Reaper often spent time in his room before dinner working on some project or another. However, as she walked past, she saw reaper fingering his diamond ring with a forlorn expression on his face.

"You are thinking about _**her**_ , again aren't you?" Owl asked, causing Reaper to jerk his head up at her.

He motioned her to come in the room and close the door.

"How can I not." He said, "The operations are too similar not to."

"Things are different this time Reaper." She replied softly.

"Are they?" He said sadly, "The combined might of three teams, a large horde of Klaxosaurs, Two defenseless cities, and one vital pinch point. They seem all too similar to me. Fate has a cruel sense of humor."

"It won't end the same way Reaper, I promise." She said.

"You can't guarantee me that Owl, you know you can't. You can't promise me that we won't fail again." He said. He could still hear the triumphant roars of the Klaxosaurs as they raced past the downed teams to the defenseless cities. He could still hear the screams.

Owl rubbed her arm nervously. As she did so, he could see the glint of the gold bands on her ring finger.

"We were unprepared Reaper, the horde showed up too quickly and intel had no information on that thing. If they knew what it could do, we would have been given full authorization from the get go, not until it was too late."

"Yeah, maybe." Reaper said. They heard chimes echo throughout the manor.

"That's the dinner bell. Wipe that frown off your face and let's go eat." Owl said.

Reaper proceeded to do just that, and they went to dinner.

…

 **The next day**

 **T-minus 48 Hours until Contact**

As Squad 13 were preparing their FranXX for battle, Reaper 1's FranXX being suspiciously absent as Reaper and his squad said they still needed some 'tweaking' and the technicians were running about in a panic as no one saw them leave with the FranXX, they ran into Squad 26, Plantation 26's defending parasites.

"Your FranXX all have rather unique designs." Said a boy with short brown hair and brown eyes, who soon identified himself as Code 090.

"All our FranXX have similar bodies and equipment all around. That makes it easier to fight as a team. I've been told that you were a hastily-assembled test team. Is this your first taste of kissing?"

"Yeah." Goro said.

"I see. We are vastly more experienced. If there is anything you don't understand, just ask."

"I've got a question." Zorome said. "Have children from your squad have become adults?"

"'Become adults'?" 090 asked confusedly.

Another member of Squad 26 nudged 090 and whispered,

"He probably doesn't know."

"Oh, that's what you mean. Not from our squad, no." 090 replied.

Reaper, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, leaned against a wall nearby as Zorome and Futoshi started arguing. His eyes narrowed at 090. _"What are you hiding?"_ He thought.

"How peculiar." 090 said to Goro. "I mean, your nicknames. Code 016 was the one who started coming up with them, I think."

"You've heard of Hiro?" Goro asked.

"Yeah, he's famous among us children. You guys are really unusual. Your FranXX designs are all over the place, and you refer to yourselves as nicknames instead of codes. What is the point of being unique?"

Reaper shook his head. _"You children have so much to learn about life."_ He thought before disappearing into a shadow portal to get back to work.

…

 **Later**

 **T-minus 33 Hours until Contact**

All three squads, minus Hiro and Zero Two, were in the briefing room receiving orders from Hachi. Squad 13 was paying no attention to Reaper 1 but Squad 26 kept throwing glances back at them, trying to figure out who they are.

"We've detected the Klaxosaurs an hour ago, at a distance of about 4,800 clicks (3,000 miles). They number anywhere from 5 to 10 thousand." Hachi said.

"te-ten thou-thousand?!" Futoshi and Zorome said.

"That number is expected to go even higher. Their expected time of arrival is about 33 hours from now. No matter how much we rush the operation, we can't complete the kissing before they get here. So, we are going to place a line of defense here," A line was drawn on the screen. "with Squad 26 at the vanguard. Squad 13 will be behind them, and Reaper 1 will stand in the rear as backup."

"Who is Reaper 1?" 090 asked.

"That would be us." Reaper said from the back of the room.

"I'm sorry but are you new? I've never heard that designation before... or seen that uniform." 090 said.

"You could say that." Owl said coldly. She liked their uniforms thank you.

"You need not worry about them 090. Believe it or not they can most likely match the 9's" Hachi said.

" _The_ _9's?"_ Reaper thought.

"Pardon me if I have my doubts." 090 said.

"Hold on to those doubts boy." Crow said.

"And watch as we blow them out of the sky." Raven concluded.

"Why aren't we the vanguard?" Zorome asked.

"This will be a chaotic dogfight. Our squad can link up better if we go at it by ourselves." 090 said.

"Did he just call us dead weight?" Miku muttered.

Hachi cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and continued with the briefing.

"Defending the pipeline connecting the two plantations takes top priority. So, I have decided to deploy a FranXX capable of solo combat there."

"Do we have such a FranXX?" 090 asked.

Hachi nodded. "Strelitiza will be deployed there."

Squad 13 looked unsurprised, having seen what Strelitiza can do, but Squad 26 looked at Hachi in horror.

"Strelitiza!? What are you..." 090 started to say before he was interrupted by the door opening. Nana walked in with the missing Hiro and Zero Two.

"Sorry we're late." Nana said.

Reaper heard 090 gasp and whisper "Code 002!"

"Did we receive Papa's permission?" Hachi said

"Yes, we are a go. Hiro will pilot Strelitiza as Zero Two's partner. This is the best course of action right now." Nana said as they walked up to Hachi.

"Wait a minute!" 090 said. "We can't fight alongside Strelitiza."

"The plan is final." Hachi said.

"But...That girl does not care about her allies! We can't trust her to have our backs! You know exactly what I mean, Code 002." 090 said.

Zero Two tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"

"The joint operation two years ago! Your reckless fighting style got us isolated on the battlefield, and I lost my partner because of you!"

"If you lost your partner, it was your fault, not Zero Two's." Reaper said, glaring at 090. "If you failed to defend yourself and your partner died as a result, the blame falls on you for failing to get out of the situation which caused your partner to die, not Zero Two, who was nowhere near you."

090 glared at Reaper before advancing toward him. Owl immediately stepped in front of him.

"Lay a hand on him, and I will throw you across the damn room. He is right, and you know it, you just refuse to accept it." Owl said coldly.

Hiro rushed over to the two. "Easy you two, as Strelitiza's stamen, I will keep Zero Two from going out of control."

090 sent a glare at both of them before returning to his seat. Hachi again cleared his throat and said a few more things before concluding the briefing.

…

"What the hell, man? Treating us like dead weight." Zorome said.

"It's the truth. We are a makeshift team." Mitsuru said.

"That is irrelevant. Makeshift team or not, you have a decent amount of experience. You are not a completely fresh team and you do know what you are doing. Acting the way they are is going to get them killed." Reaper said.

"It still pisses me off though." Zorome said.

"I agree with them." Goro said.

"What." Reaper said turning his gaze to Goro.

"Strelitiza should not be a part of this mission-"

"I got this." Hiro said. "Let's show them what we are made of. You guys don't want to take their insults lying down, right? Let's prove them wrong."

As the others were agreeing with Hiro, Cypress walked next to Goro.

"Goro, I'm sure you have your reasons for not wanting Strelitiza to participate in this battle, but we need all the help we can get. We have been in battles like this and let me tell you, every unit you have on the field increases your chance of survival. 090 was not wrong about the upcoming battle, battles like these quickly get chaotic and it is easy to get isolated and forget the main goal in trying to stay alive. If that doesn't help, think of it this way, would you rather his third ride be in a controlled environment, with extra people to provide support should something go wrong. Or be on a standard sortie, where help is kilometers away."

…

Later that night, Reaper was lying wide awake in his bed. He couldn't sleep because every time he closed his eyes, memories of their failed mission kept flashing through his mind, images of the destruction that they had failed to prevent, images of _**her**_ broken body when they finally got to her.

"Screw it." He said getting out of bed. He needed to go for a walk to clear his head. As he was walking past the greenhouse he heard voices coming from the other side. Wanting to know what they were saying he snuck around and ducked behind a tree to listen.

"...past with Squad 26." He heard Ichigo saying. "But I want you to say in line during the mission. I am the leader, and you will follow my orders."

" _Ichigo, I understand that you are protective of Hiro, but this is not the way to go about this."_ Reaper thought.

"Ordering me around, again? You really are bossy." Zero Two said.

"Wait!" Ichigo said grabbing Zero Two's arm. Getting jerked forward before Zero Two stopped.

"Please don't push Hiro too hard."

Zero Two jerked her hand out of Ichigo's grip.

"Darling was the one who said he wanted to ride with me."

"Yes, I know. But try not to put a heavy burden on him, at least."

"Do you want me to give him to you?" Ichigo's head jerked up at that. "But you tried to ride with him already and it didn't work."

"Leave me out of this!"

"Then _stay_ out of it."

Ichigo paused. "Are you trying to suck Hiro dry?"

"My Darling belongs to me."

Ichigo looked at her in shock. "He could die, you know!"

"Sure, he could. But that would just mean he did not amount to much."

Ichigo glared at Zero Two before walking forward and slapping her, causing her headband to fall off.

" _Oh shit."_ Reaper thought and prepared to intervene if things got violent.

"You are heartless. You really aren't human!"

Zero Two's eyes were glowing red "Human? Human, huh. Let me ask you something then." She said glaring at Ichigo. "What is 'Human' to you people?"

Ichigo began backing up in fear.

" _Her headband must act as a limiter for her rage."_ Reaper thought. He summoned his scythe in case he had to fight Zero Two off of Ichigo. He felt a drop of water on his head. Then another and another. He soon realized that it was raining. Zero Two looked up as it started to rain. Rage in her eyes gone.

"Leave me alone." She said before walking off.

Ichigo stood in shock before turning back to the manor. Reaper followed Ichigo and saw her and Goro on the porch. Goro threw a towel at her, and they exchanged words that Reaper could not hear. Reaper saw that Ichigo had started crying. Goro had gone forward to comfort her but suddenly jerked back staring at his hands. Ichigo soon recovered and they both went inside.

" _Emotions are difficult to understand for those who are just experiencing them. This is going to be a major learning curve for all of them."_ Reaper thought as he turned away. He then set about to find Zero Two, he really needed to talk to her.

…

Reaper found Zero Two standing near the largest lake. It was still raining so he stopped covering his movements, so he would not scare the poor girl.

"You caused quite the scene earlier." Reaper said as he approached.

"You saw?" Zero Two asked.

"I did."

Zero Two said nothing for a while. "You want me to go apologize don't you."

"No, she needed to back off some. I'm simply here to give you some food for thought. Hiro is your Darling, right?"

She looked at him suspiciously "Yes."

He looked at her seriously. "Then don't fuck up."

She looked at him confused. "What?"

"Don't fuck up. You only get one Darling, one person to call your own. Don't treat his life like it's something that can be thrown away. Once he is gone, he's not coming back. So, don't push him tomorrow." He said.

"Don't make the same mistake we did." He said softly and turned his head away.

Zero Two looked at him concerned. "Reaper are you alright?"

Reaper wiped away the tears he was hiding from her and continued.

"Hiro is the most important thing in this world for you, don't lose him to your arrogance. Have a good night Zero Two." He turned and walked away from her. Zero Two was still looking at him concerned.

As Reaper entered their section of the manor he saw Owl was waiting for him. She strolled forward and wrapped him in a hug. He gladly did the same.

"Feeling better Reaper?" Owl asked.

"No, but I will live."

 **A/N:** And done. So, Reaper helped Hiro get a clearer picture of his memories, and we saw some of Reaper's own. Send me a PM if you have figured who _**she**_ is and what happened to Reaper and his squad. As always, criticism and reviews are always greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	8. Chapter 8: The Kissing

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 8: The Kissing

" _Attention all parasites, contact will occur at 0230 hours. Please make your way to the hanger. This message will now repeat."_ They heard over the loudspeaker.

"There are so many…" Nana said in awe as she looked at the absolutely massive horde of Klaxosaurs.

"They will be fine." Hachi said. "They have Reaper 1 with them plus Strelitiza with them. That huge thing, however, could be a Klaxosaur as well. But I have never seen one like it before. This will be an extreme test for them."

…

With the parasites, each was doing their own thing in order to prepare themselves for the battle. Ichigo was in the shower trying to get her mind of Hiro and what might happen. Hiro and Goro were in their room, Goro was trying a last-ditch attempt to get Hiro not to pilot. Kokoro, Ikuno and Miku were discussing the likelihood that they would come back in one piece. Zorome and Futoshi were off who knows where. And Reaper and his squads were pouring over the feeds, after hacking in of course, showing the number of Klaxosaurs and discussing tactics.

"We need to keep them at long range for as long as possible. We cannot let them get near the pipe." Reaper told his squad, his and their faces set in stone. They would not have a repeat of before.

…

"Given the differences in numbers, we can't afford to be too optimistic." Mitsuru said as the boys were walking down the hall toward the hanger.

"Hey, don't go wimping out on us now. We've got me, Zorome the Great, on our side." Zorome said.

"Zorome aside, we also have Strelitiza with us as well as Reaper 1 to assist us as well." Futoshi said.

"Anyway, we are not going to let Squad 26 hog all the glory." Zorome said.

"That's not who you should be fighting." Mitsuru said.

As they caught up with the girls, Reaper watched as Hiro and Ichigo talked. She seemed to need a bit of a pep talk and Hiro was the one to give it to her. As Hiro and Ichigo joined up with the group he saw that she still had a worried look on her face. Reaper decided to give her some reassurement.

"Ichigo." Reaper said, putting a hand on her shoulder stopping her. "Focus on your end. We will keep her out of the battle as long as possible, and deal with any issues when the time comes. Zero Two does have some compassion in her. They will be fine."

"It's hard not to worry about it, Reaper. I don't want to know what it feels like to lose a squad member." Ichigo said before walking away.

"You won't Ichigo, you won't" He said.

…

" _Open force gate. Open force gate. Lift carrier, proceed slowly at zero point five. Numbers Two through Five are to deploy in the gamma quartet formation. I repeat: deploy in gamma quartet formation. All FranXX good to go. Target Beta's alt mode yet unconfirmed. Clear weather. Temperature is 72.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Amending enemy's approach route. Estimated point of contact unchanged. Wind blowing from the Northeast at 181 miles per hour. All safety systems green._

"We have updated intel on the Klaxosaurs. Aside from the Conrad class pack, we have detected several Moho class as well as a large, tightly packed unit. It doesn't match anything we have on record, but we have determined it to be a Klaxosaur due to its independent movement and code named it Target Beta." Hachi said.

"It's huge!" Someone from Squad 13 said.

If one were to look at Black Rose near the pipe, one would see the scowl that she had on her face.

"That thing is going to be tough to kill. There is no visible weak spot that we can penetrate it at to get to the core." Black Rose said.

"Since we lack data, attacking it would be reckless. As such, prioritize attacking and clearing the horde when you engage. 090 will have field command." Hachi said.

"Understood." 090 said.

"It is time. All FranXX, commence operation. Strelitiza, Reaper 1, stand by where you are." Hachi said.

"Roger!" everyone said.

"Squad 26, let's go." 090 said.

…

After several minutes, they saw several explosions in the distance. Reaper then made the comment,

"They are going to get themselves killed. They rely too much on teamwork tactics and lots are going to get past.

True to his word after a few more minutes of fighting, more of the horde slipped past Squad 26 and headed toward Squad 13.

"13, you're up." 090 said. "But be careful not to stray too far ahead. If you move about haphazardly, you could screw up our coordination as well."

"If you think we are a hindrance, come out and say it!" Zorome said.

"I never thought that we would be seen as such a big liability." Goro said.

"It's the truth, we're green as hell." Mitsuru said.

"You may be green, but you are no pushovers. I highly doubt that they have faced a Gaia class and won." Reaper said. "Now, get out there and show them what you can do."

All of squad 13 nodded their heads and began to attack. After another 10 minutes the bulk of the horde had passed the first line of defense and were rapidly approaching the second. Looking at the kill count, Squad 13 was rapidly overcoming Squad 26's kills. The difference between the two teams was very apparent. 26 relied solely on teamwork tactics, working as a group to take down one Klaxosaur. While this was efficient in killing the Klaxosaurs, it allowed a lot to get past. Whereas Squad 13 worked both alone and together, this lead to not all the Klaxosaurs getting killed in one encounter, but any damage done helped later. But even they were being overwhelmed, and it was time for Reaper 1 to get in on the action.

"Reaper 1 you're up. Move to just behind squad 13. Do not let them get near the pipe." Hachi said.

"Negative, we can handle this from here." Reaper said.

"What are you…" Hachi started to say before his jaw dropped.

…

"Alright everyone, we have our orders, kill them all and keep them at range for as long as possible." Reaper said.

Lotus then jumped up and landed on the pipe next to Strelitiza. She then summoned their chosen weapon for range, a sniper rifle. In particular, this was a Shadow Corp Mk V Deadshot 56 Heavy Sniper Rifle. The Deadshot fires a 5.56-meter round that can kill a Klaxosaur at a distance of up to 10 miles. Digitalis braced herself and summoned their chosen weapon, a minigun. The weapon was a Shadow Corp MRX587 minigun, with a spin up time of two seconds. It fires 7.62-meter Shadowfire, armor piercing, incendiary round at an impressive 10,000 rounds a minute. Black Rose was dual-wielding the Shadow Corp S56R2 Shadow Rifle. Firing balls of compressed shadow energy, when it strikes it detonates with the strength of a small hydrogen bomb.

"Lotus, your priority will be the Moho class Klaxosaurs. Digitalis, you and I will kill any that make it past Squad 13 and well as provide covering fire for them." Reaper said.

"Yes sir!" They replied.

"Good, then pick your targets and fire at will." Reaper said and turned to the horde and began to fire.

Digitalis's weapon spun up and she began to unload on the Klaxosaurs, Black Rose was not far behind them. Every now and then they could hear the crack of the Deadshot and watched as another Moho class fell. They were soon killing the Klaxosaurs by the hundreds. The best part of the Shadow Corp weapons was that they did not have to reload, and they had infinite ammo as it was all based on shadow energy.

Delphinium had just killed another Klaxosaur when a storm of bullets flew past on her right and obliterated the Klaxosaur that was attempting to sneak up on her. As she turned around to thank Chlorophytum, she realized that it was not her who killed the Klaxosaur but Digitalis from Reaper 1. Her jaw dropped as she beheld the weapons in their hands.

"Where the hell did you get those weapons?!" Delphinium shouted.

"Special weapons division of Shadow Corp from our time!" Black Rose shouted back as she obliterated a group to the left of Genista and to the right of Argentea. She had an evil grin on her face. Chlorophytum was having trouble with a Moho class, as it was about to land a strike, a *crack* was heard and the Moho class dropped dead.

"What?!" Mitsuru said before turning to look behind him and seeing that Lotus had fired the shot. He let out a "Grrr" of frustration before going back to kill more.

"13! Fall back a bit! You're in danger of being surrounded!" Crow said from atop the pipe.

They look around and saw that he was right and fell back a bit before continuing.

…

Up with Squad 26, they had managed to catch a quick break and looked back toward Squad 13 and Reaper 1. They could see hundreds of explosions in the distance.

"Code 015, huh. What's such a skilled teen code doing with a makeshift test team? They even have Code 016. Not to mention R-01 and his squad, they haven't even engaged the enemy at close range and they are still showing more skill than we are. Why are they tied to Squad 13 instead of working directly under Papa or with the 9's?" 090 said.

…

A little while later, 13 had been pushed back even farther in the face of the horde and Reaper had to make the decision.

"Reaper 1, keeping the Klaxosaurs at long range is no longer attainable." Reaper said as Black Rose banished the shadow rifle and summoned Nightmare. "I hereby authorize permission for release and order the squad to switch to close range weapons. It's time to show them why we are called Reapers."

As each FranXX summoned their scythes, they all glowed a dark red, their blades gleaming menacingly. As Reaper 1 was about to advance they saw a line of Klaxosaurs suddenly get torn to shreds. They looked at each other before looking behind them and saw that Strelitiza was no longer on the pipe.

"Strelitiza is here!" Argentea said as she roared past her killing another line of Klaxosaurs.

"What are you doing out here? Don't ignore orders!" 090 said.

"I'm just helping my squad!" Hiro shouted back.

Delphinium then jumped into the argument.

"Go back Strelitiza! We've got this!" She said.

"We are just trying to help!" Hiro retorted.

As the two continued to argue Reaper decided to try a different tactic. He blocked all comms to Strelitiza and opened a direct link to her bypassing going through plantation control.

"Strelitiza, what are you doing? Why are you wasting your energy on these small fries?" Reaper said.

Strelitiza looked at him confused.

"Your energy could be better used when we have to take on that big cube. These small fries provide no challenge, so if you spend all of your energy now, when the killing blow on the big guy is needed you won't have it."

Strelitiza had a thoughtful look on her face before huffing and turning and going back to the pipe. Delphinium's voice suddenly filled the cockpit.

"What the hell Reaper?! Why did you cut me off?!" She said.

"There are better ways to convince someone then arguing with them." Reaper said.

Another wave of Klaxosaurs were approaching.

"Grrr. We are not done with this conversation." She said before dashing off.

Black Rose shook her head before preparing to face the horde of Klaxosaurs again.

…

After another half an hour, most of the horde was dead. Bodies were scattered everywhere, Reaper and his squad were standing on large mounds of Klaxosaur corpses, their FranXX were covered in blue blood. Squad 26 and 13 were gaping at them.

"Well, that was fun." Black Rose said, and Lotus agreed.

"What was the kill count Reaper?" Snake said.

"For us it was 2,846, for Lotus it was 2,687 and for Digitalis it was 2,543." He said.

"Damn it! I could of swore I had more. Reaper did you count the Moho class as two?" Digitalis said, pouting.

"Nope." Reaper replied.

"Better luck next time, you two." Lotus said with a laugh.

"With the horde dealt with, we will now attack Target Beta, be careful." Hachi said.

"How exactly is it going to attack? It doesn't have any limbs." Delphinium said.

Squad 26 wrapped it in their signature electric harpoons and triggered them. The Target then roared and stopped moving.

"Good, it's working." 090 said.

They then triggered their electric harpoons again and they have it a bigger shock. The Klaxosaur let out a shriek that caused everyone to cover their ears.

"No." Reaper breathed "It can't be."

To everyone's horror, the Klaxosaur began to unpack itself, breaking the harpoon wires before throwing its arms out and getting to its feet. It then roared and slammed its hands into the ground. The Klaxosaur had a humanoid form and was easily as tall as the plantations.

"A-A humanoid form!?" 090 said.

"This can't be happening!" someone else from Squad 26 said.

"A Gutenberg class?!" Nana said in shock.

"This is bad news." Hachi said.

"YOU!" Reaper roared, and Black Rose's face was set in fury.

The Gutenberg class took a step forward and 090 shouted,

"You're not getting any closer! All units, we are trying again."

They shot their harpoons into the Klaxosaur's arm but before they could electrocute it, the Klaxosaur flicked it arm throwing Squad 26 into the ground.

"Crap! All units fall back." 090 said. He clicked his triggers but his FranXX was out of fuel. He saw the foot of the Klaxosaur approaching him and he closed his eyes and waited for the final blow. It never came. When 090 opened his eyes, he saw that Lotus had grabbed him and was hauling him back.

"Get your head out of your ass!" Crow said harshly. He set him on the ground before rocketing off after the Gutenberg class.

"Thank you." 090 whispered.

"All Squad 26 units fall back. Squad 13 and Reaper 1 will deal with the Gutenberg." Hachi said.

"Easier said than done." Delphinium

"With pleasure!" Reaper said, as Black Rose flicked her hood over her head, causing the rampage mask to descend.

…

"Reaper? Owl? Damn it!" Crow said as he rocketed after Black Rose, Lotus following.

"Crow? What is happening to Reaper and Owl?" Genista asked.

"They have lost themselves to their rage! Just stay out of their way, they will calm down in a few minutes." Lotus replied.

"How do we stop this thing?" Argentea asked as she chased after the Klaxosaur.

"Stopping it would be pointless, you need to kill it, or it will breach the pipe." Mitsuru said.

"We will distract it while those two are in a rage. Get Strelitiza ready to hit the core. Her spear is the only thing we have at the moment that will be able to reach the core." Crow said.

"Got it." Hiro said.

"Don't push yourself." Crow said as he brought up Hiro's vitals.

Black Rose was going nuts on the Gutenberg class. They had already scaled up its legs and were making their way up to its chest, hacking and slashing along the way causing damage to the Klaxosaur.

"That's not a bad idea. Everyone climb up its legs and attack it. Make it fall backward, that should give Strelitiza her opportunity." Snake said.

Squad 13 started climbing the Klaxosaur's legs helping each other up.

"Ready? NOW!" Lotus said as she struck at its legs the others following suit. The Klaxosaur fell to its knees then toppled backward. Knocking Black Rose off and slamming her into the ground, the battle mask ascended off her face as the hood fell back.

As Lotus and Digitalis checked on Black Rose they saw a light falling from the sky, they soon realized it was Strelitiza falling from on high, spear aimed to stab into the Klaxosaur's chest.

"I'm gonna finish this in one blow!" Hiro said as they neared the Gutenberg.

As they slammed into the Klaxosaur it bucked a bit.

"Get in there!" Hiro shouted as the spear slowly penetrated the Klaxosaur. He then activated the magma energy within the spear and the Klaxosaur then bucked into the air before collapsing.

"We did it." Hiro said before his vitals plummeted.

To everyone's horror the Klaxosaur then began to get back up. The Gutenberg slammed a fist into Strelitiza knocking her back toward the main pipe. The Klaxosaur then began to transform into a large fist on a sliding ramp with boosters on the back. It aimed for Strelitiza before sliding back and activating its boosters.

"Hiro get out of there!" Delphinium shouted but Strelitiza did not move.

"Ichigo, he's gone." Lotus said,

"NO!" she screamed before the fist slammed into the ground sending Strelitiza flying into the main pipe. When the dust cleared Strelitiza sparkled gold before shifting into its rampage mode.

"The link between Code 002 and Code 016 has been broken." Hachi said.

"No!" Nana said.

"We had to run out of time now?" Hachi said.

Strelitiza then pulled herself out of the wall and snarled at the Klaxosaur.

"Zero Two, no!" Crow said, but it was futile as she launched herself at it.

Black Rose then got off the ground holding her head.

"You good?" Snake asked.

"Yeah." Black Rose replied giving her head one final shake before taking stock of the situation. Reaper let out a growl before launching them at Strelitiza and knocking her off course.

"You guys distract that thing. Draw it away from the pipe." Reaper said as he knocked Strelitiza aside again. "And we will disable Strelitiza."

"Roger" Squad 13 said.

Black Rose then turned and dodged an attack from Strelitiza, causing Strelitiza land on her back but she quickly rolled over and growled at Black Rose.

"She is in a state of rage, non-lethal hits only, we don't want to extremely injure or kill her." Reaper said looking at Strelitiza with pity. He knew, better than most, what it was like to be in the state she is in.

Strelitiza spent the few minutes lunging at each of Reaper 1 trying in vain to hit at least one of them.

"Pin her. We need to force her out of the controls." Reaper said.

Strelitiza then lunged at Black Rose again and Reaper knocked her aside again. As he did so he planted the blades of their scythe around her neck, Lotus and Digitalis gently buried the tips of theirs into her legs, preventing her from getting up.

"Zero Two, exit the controls of Strelitiza immediately or I will be forced to do it myself." Reaper said.

She struggled for a few moments trying to find a way out, before the faceplate went blank and she stopped moving. Reaper knew what was going to come next, but he still winced when he heard Zero Two's wailing cries as she beheld Hiro's body.

" _Damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen!"_ Reaper thought as he turned back toward Squad 13 who were having trouble with the Gutenberg class.

…

A cold wind suddenly blew through their cockpits, which wasn't possible as they did not circulate air from the outside, and then reality seemed to slow down. Suddenly, the communicators on their wrists crackled to life.

"Hello Reaper Alpha." A deep, smooth voice said.

"Master?!" Reaper said in shock.

"Ah Reaper, so good to hear your voice after so many decades. You know, at first when you disappeared, I had assumed the worst, but when your souls did not return to me, I had to assume something else had happened." The voice said.

Reaper set his mouth in a line. He then opened his mouth to take the fall for his squad. "Master, I…"

"Silence, Reaper." The voice said, and Reaper shut up and waited to see what he would say.

The voice was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

"I do not blame you for the actions you decided to take Reaper. You needed time to grieve, both of you did," Black Rose looked down saddened, "time you were not given. You carried on for five years on a path of self-destruction and self-loathing because you were unable to grieve. So, no Reaper, I do not blame you for choosing to do what you did. Now, however, time has passed, and you seem to be recovered. You have made some new allies, and gotten some new tech, tech I did not make. This is fine, and since Shadow Corp is no longer around, I will personally have to make some, ah, _modifications_ to the machines you are piloting."

"Understood Master." Crow said.

"Master," Reaper said, his face darkening. "We need to talk about what humanity has done. Humanity have achieved immortality and are playing god."

"What?" The voice said, its tone darkening.

"By mixing magma energy and several other things they have created an elixir that prevents them from aging, making them immortal. They are no longer able to have children, so they are vat growing children and modifying them as they see fit."

The temperature within the cockpits plummeted.

"That. Is. Unacceptable." The voice said, full of fury. "Humanity will have its reckoning for this. No one may defy the Natural Laws and get away with it. No one."

The temperature rose once more as the voice paused.

"Reaper, your current allies, have they been given the elixir as well?" The voice asked.

"No." Raven replied. "For some reason, the FranXX need fertile pilots."

"Interesting." The voice said.

"On to your current predicament, it seems that history is trying to repeat itself. As you know I abhor such things, as such…" The voice took a deep breath before continuing.

"Reaper Alpha, I have orders for you." Reaper and his squad immediately jerked to attention.

The Gutenberg class suddenly gained a shadow aura around it.

"The Klaxosaur you see before you, is a class 2 high value target. Due to its shape shifting abilities and regeneration, I am authorizing a partial Limiter removal, not to exceed more than 50 percent of max power. Oh, and Reaper, Owl? Its _**Him**_." The voice said.

Reaper Alpha's faces settled into looks of fury. They knew what that meant. The Klaxosaur in front of them was the same one that caused their mission to fail so many years ago. It was time for revenge.

"I thought so." Reaper muttered.

"I want it dead Reaper, and I don't care how you do it." The voice said in cold fury.

"Understood, Lord _Death_. You will be receiving its soul shortly." Reaper replied.

"Good. Death out." He said, and reality speed back up to normal.

…

"Squad 13," Reaper said over the comms, "fall back to my position and check on Hiro, we will deal that that bastard."

"Reaper Alpha, we are getting out." Reaper growled as he and Owl disconnected from the console.

Each of Reaper Alpha's FranXX shut down as their faceplates opened allowing Reaper and his squad to exit and jump to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ichigo shouted as they approached.

"Killing this damn thing." Reaper said back.

"All Reaper Alpha members, partial Limiter removal has been authorized. Setting power cap to 50 percent." Reaper said as the Limiters were removed.

Everyone watched in awe and horror at what happened next. First, they gained an aura of death and despair, which made anyone who looked at them shudder in fear. Their scythes then appeared on their backs unbidden, all glowing a deep red. Their bodies then seemed to shimmer for a moment, before a new cloak appeared on their bodies with a hood that was over their heads. The scariest part was, that instead of seeing their faces within the hood, all they saw was a skeleton face with burning red eyes.

Reaper then grabbed his scythe off his back and swung it vertically, sending a wave of shadow at the Klaxosaur, causing it to stumble.

"Hey asshole!" Reaper shouted to the Klaxosaur. It turned to look at them and Goro swore he could feel its eyes narrowing.

"Remember us?" Owl said as ice was slowly coating the ground around her.

"It seems we have some unfinished business." Crow said as his body began to shoot off little arcs of lightening.

"You took something very valuable from us." Snake said as the ground around him cracked and turned into fine pieces of dirt.

"How about we do the same to you." Cypress said as moss and lichen began to appear on the ground around her.

"By taking your life." Raven growled as the ground around her began to become drenched in water.

"What are you guys thinking!" Argentea shouted as they raced toward the Klaxosaur. She stepped forward to chase after them but was blocked by a wall of shadow.

"Stay out of this, this one is ours." Owl growled over the comms.

Argentea turned to see Ichigo attempting to force open the cockpit of Strelitiza.

"I guess we had better help her." She said.

…

Reaper sent another wave of shadow at the Klaxosaur cutting through its hand, causing it to fall off. All the Klaxosaur did was reform its hand and charge at them as well.

"Slice it to fucking ribbons!" Reaper roared. He then jumped and sliced its right arm into 3 pieces. Crow and Raven turned to the limb and began to destroy it. Reaper landed, turned, and sliced off its other arm, causing the Klaxosaur to roar in pain.

Over with Crow and Raven, a tornado was descending from the sky to strike the dismembered arm. As it landed metal and flesh went everywhere as the tornado was moving up and down the removed arm. Soon the cyclone was dyed the blue color of the Klaxosaur's blood as it continued to destroy the arm. The tornado soon ascended and dissipated leaving nothing behind but scraps of metal and flesh.

Cypress and Snake were taking care of the other arm in their own way. A miniature forest of ivy had appeared and was tying the arm to the earth. Snake was landing strikes on the arm and everywhere he struck, the area around the wound rusted and fell to pieces, the flesh decaying. After a few dozen strikes, Cypress held up her scythe, causing it to glow green, before the ivy tightened on the arm causing it to burst into dust and be scattered by the wind. The ivy soon wilted and died returning to the earth.

"With that out of the way, TIME TO DIE!" Reaper said as Owl stepped forward.

Owl slammed her scythe into the ground causing a wave of ice to spread from the tip of the blade toward the Klaxosaur. It soon reached its feet and began to freeze it in place. Once the ice was half way up its body, Reaper struck. He held out his scythe and it was wrapped in shadow. Behind the Gutenberg class a massive ethereal version of Harvester appeared. Reaper swung Harvester down and the massive scythe did the same, piercing into the Klaxosaur's back. The upper blade pierced back out of the front of the Klaxosaur, the core impaled on its blade. Owl then leaped into the air and froze the Gutenberg class's head. She then sliced the ice causing it to shatter and making the Klaxosaur explode into a shower of blue blood. In the distance Squad 26 were watching and thought they saw some skeletal figure was wielding the ethereal Harvester with a sinister grin on its face before it disappeared, but assumed it was a trick of the light.

"That, was for Havana and James you son of a bitch." Reaper growled.

Over the comms, Reaper vaguely heard, "Get away from him you bitch!" from Ichigo before hearing a groan of pain and Ichigo asking, "Hiro! Hiro, are you alright?"

Looking at his wrist communicator, Reaper was shocked to see Hiro's vitals had returned to normal.

"Master?" Reaper asked, as Hiro's vitals had flatlined over an hour ago.

"The boy still has a purpose, so I brought him back. I also returned to him what was lost. It will take about a day for the memories to settle but he should be no worse for wear. You will have to mend the rift that has been caused by this event, as your friends probably think it was her who killed him." Death said. The sun began to rise in the background.

"Reaper Alpha, I have new orders for you." Death said before pausing. "Protect the children. Death out."

Reaper and his squad suddenly felt exhaustion roll over them as they changed back to their normal states, scythes disappearing and auras fading. The trudged over to where Squad 13 was standing with Squad 26. 13 was standing in a protective circle around Hiro making sure Zero Two was nowhere near him.

"What in the hell was that?" 090 asked.

"Yeah what was that?" Zorome asked.

"What that was, you do not need to know." Reaper said as they went to check on Zero Two. 13 sent glares there way but they did not care. Zero Two was a part of 13's squad, if they would not check on her then they would.

"All you need to know is that, that was an act of revenge. We had faced that particular Klaxosaur before, and we had a very large vendetta against it as a result of that encounter. The actions we took were befitting of that vendetta. Although we should have made it suffer more." Owl said.

"That doesn't…" Ichigo started to say before Reaper glared at her.

"Ichigo drop it. If you want a better explanation then I will give you this, that piece of shit," Reaper said pointing at the remains of the Klaxosaur, "took someone very important from both me and Owl, and we responded in kind."

Ichigo did not respond but he could see the distrust in her eyes as well as everyone else in Squad 13, a rift had been made and it would take time to heal. Reaper saw Zero Two looking at him and Owl with dawning realization on her face. Her mouth dropped in horror as the realization hit her. Just as she was about to say something the comms unit crackled to life.

"All units, the kissing operation is complete, well done." Hachi said as the FranXX retrieval teams began to approach.

…

Atop the damaged pipeline a boy with dirty blond hair, with a pure white FranXX was watching what was going on below.

"You're certainly hitting it off aren't you, Nine Iota." He said before turning his attention to Reaper and his squad who were with Zero Two and were staring at the sunrise.

"You, Reaper 1, are very interesting indeed. How did you do those things? You certainly are an asset that would be more useful under the direct orders of Papa."

…

At a hidden base deep within Klaxosaur territory, a woman was staring at a series of monitors, silently fuming. She was dressed a cloak of blue and black and had long admiral blue hair and royal purple eyes.

" _How dare they. How dare they?! Killing my children like that! They are nothing but scum who steal precious resources from the earth with no forethought of the consequences!"_ she thought staring at the screens showing that the parasites had won.

"Wait a minute." She said as she spotted something on the screen. Fingers flying across the virtual keyboard she zoomed in on the figures dressed in black.

"It can't be…" She said looking at the screen in shock. "Every report listed them as MIA! I searched for 20 years for them and the Princess herself went looking for them and couldn't find them."

She then zoomed in on the figure with the messy blond hair until his figure filled the screen.

"Reaper." She whimpered.

 **A/N:** And done. Whew that took too long to write. So, Reaper 1's master has been revealed. The bogyman of their past has been defeated, and Hiro's memories have been returned. The consequences of siding with Zero Two have caused a rift to appear between Squad 13 and Reaper 1. And who are the two figures at the end of the chapter and what do they want? As always, criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 9: Aftermath

Aiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee! I'm a day late in posting this chapter! Gomenasai!

* * *

" _Had I really forgotten all this time? How did I forget something so important?"_ Hiro thought as he sat in the medical ward. After the events of yesterday, he was immediately rushed to the medical ward as he had collapsed shortly after awakening. When he awoke earlier, he realized that the fuzzy images he had been seeing were, in fact, his memories. Memories from the Garden. Memories of Zero Two. Memories of meeting her, a girl with stunning long red horns and beautiful red skin. Memories of escaping the Garden with her. Memories of finding that giant tree. Memories of being captured. Memories of seeing her being tortured. Memories of being told that what he had seen and done should be forgotten and then them making him forget. _"How dare they."_

Hiro was struggling to remember how his memories came back to him though. He did die, of that he was sure, but he was brought back. For some reason, he was _denied_ death and forced back into his body. Why though he was not sure.

…

"I'm surprised that he is already awake. His YBC has gone far beyond what a body should be able to handle yet, he is wide awake and unaffected, aside from the collapse yesterday." Nana said, looking at the monitor displaying the feed from the camera that was installed in the medical ward. "His mind is clearly hazy, too. Side effect of nearly dying perhaps?"

"Either way, the result was the same despite him being different. It's time to call this off. Papa wants to try connecting her to one of Reaper 1's members, to see what happens." Hachi said.

…

Zero Two was staring at Strelitiza in frustration. _"This wasn't supposed to happen!"_ she thought. " _Darling was in the cockpit with me, he wasn't supposed to get hurt!"_ She sighed. Reaper had been right, he told her not to push too hard and she had anyway. As a result, her Darling had died. But her Darling had come back. While she was crying over his body, he had suddenly jerked back to life, all traces of the tumor, gone. Something had changed though. When she looked into his eyes, she noticed that he saw her in a new light, but before she could ask, that blue-haired girl, Ichigo, pulled her away from Darling and prevented her from asking.

" _I need to talk to Darling."_ she thought as she walked down the hallways to the medical ward. _"I need to know what changed."_

"Wait." A voice said but she ignored it.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the voice said again but she still ignored it. That is, until she was suddenly yanked around to face the owner of the voice, Ichigo. She was glaring at her.

"Don't try to stop me, I need to talk to my Darling." Zero Two said.

"You can't be serious! Do you realize that it was you who put him in a hospital bed, right!" Ichigo shouted as the rest of Squad 13 came running.

"You are never going anywhere near Hiro again." Ichigo said.

"C-calm down Ichigo" Goro said. "Zero Two is probably worried about him too, you know."

"Yeah. Why are you getting so worked up over this Ichigo?" Miku asked.

"All this time you have deceived Hiro and exploited him. And you just tried to take his life!" Ichigo shouted.

"'Take his life?'" Futoshi said.

"I heard all about it. You suck your partners life away and you discard them once you are done. And you have killed many people that way!" Ichigo said.

"Who told you that?" Goro asked.

"When your partners ride with you, you forcefully give them more Yellow Blood Cells. You try to turn them into you and it kills them! You can't force people to become like you!" Ichigo shouted.

"Zero Two, is that true?" Ikuno asked.

"It can't be, right?" Kokoro said.

"There must be a misunderstanding." Goro said. "Hiro is still alive after all and completely unaffected by her."

"Shut up." Zero Two said. "What I do with to Darling is none of your god damn business."

"So, you admit it?" Ichigo whispered.

"Happy now? Just let me see my Darling." Zero Two said before turning around and walking away.

Ichigo ran in front of her.

"No." she said.

"Get out of my way." Zero Two said and went to push Ichigo aside, but she caught her hand.

"No, for what you have done, I am never letting you see Hiro again." Ichigo said. "You have done nothing but lie to us and use him the entire time. You have no place here anymore!"

Around the corner, Reaper and his squad were hidden, having overheard the entire conversation.

"That's not your call to make, Ichigo." Reaper muttered, shaking his head.

…

"016? You have some visitors." A nurse said as Reaper and his squad walked into the room. Hiro looked up.

"Hey guys." Hiro said.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked pulling up a chair. The others did the same.

"Physically I'm fine but up here," Hiro said tapping his head. "not so much."

"Thoughts fuzzy? Confusion? Bit of a headache?" Snake said, and Hiro nodded.

"Side effects from your brush with death. You experienced something that the mind can't comprehend so it tends to scramble things." Owl said.

Reaper looked at Hiro's eyes.

"You remember now, don't you? That which was suppressed has returned?" Reaper asked.

Hiro nodded. "It was fuzzy before I woke up, but then it felt like I was catching up to myself and everything became clearer."

"You know that they are keeping her from you, right?" Crow said.

"They are?" Hiro asked.

Cypress nodded. "Yeah, they seem to be under the impression that she was simply using you. Trying to turn you into her. They think she was trying to kill you."

"Well they are not entirely wrong on two of those accounts." Hiro said.

"We know, and I rather imagine that, within those previously suppressed memories of yours, something happened which made you mostly immune to the effects of that treatment." Reaper said.

"I need to talk to her. She needs to know it was not her fault." Hiro said.

"We will see what we can do. Right now, you need to rest, and so do you." Owl said as she glared at Reaper.

"I will, I will." Reaper said holding his hands up placatingly.

Hiro laughed at him as Reaper 1 walked out the door.

"Rest now Hiro." Reaper said turning out the lights. "It's easier if you let your mind sort itself out on its own." He then closed the door.

…

"Where were you guys?" Ichigo asked as Reaper and his squad entered the manor.

"Visiting Hiro." Raven said before attempting to walk past Ichigo. Ichigo threw out her arm to stop her.

"Did I give you permission to do so?" Ichigo said.

Reaper narrowed his eyes at her. "Ichigo, you have neither the rank nor the right, to tell me and my squad what we can and cannot do." Reaper said in a commanding tone. "You are making decisions based on your emotions for Hiro and not the betterment of your squad."

"I have every right to…"

"No, you don't" Reaper said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Where is Zero Two?" Owl asked.

"She is currently isolated in her room. No one is to see or speak with her until command gives us orders." Ichigo said.

Reaper huffed, and they walked past her to their section of the manor.

"We will see about that." Reaper muttered to himself, a plan forming in his head on how to get Zero Two to Hiro.

…

It was late at night when the plan went into action. Zorome and Futoshi were guarding the door leading to Zero Two's room. Her room was completely trashed, claw marks covered the walls and all the furniture in the room had been smashed. Zero Two was sitting up against a wall, chewing on her fingernails, when she heard a light tapping on the window. She looked out to see Owl and Raven hanging outside her window gesturing to her to open it up. When she indicated that she couldn't, Owl motioned her to back up before the window was wrapped in shadow. Owl then summoned Queen and tapped its tip onto the glass causing ice to spread across the window before Raven hit the ice, breaking the window without making a sound. The shards never hit the ground, instead they hovered in the air and moved so that Zero Two could climb out. She looked down to see Reaper's hands wrapped in shadow as he manipulated the glass.

"Come on, we are taking you to see Hiro." Raven whispered, and she jumped down off the manor, Zero Two and Owl followed shortly afterward.

Reaper then manipulated the glass to fit back into the window and bound it with shadow energy.

"Come on, let's go." Reaper said.

They navigated through the plantation, hiding from the guards and avoiding the cameras. As they were progressing down one of the hallways Zero Two asks,

"Why can't you create a shadow portal to my Darling's room instead of doing this?"

"While we could do that, you can't go through the portal. Anyone who doesn't know Umbrakinesis can't go through the Shadow Realm, it will destroy your mind." Snake said.

Zero Two said nothing and continued to follow behind Reaper 1. They reached the end of the hallway adjacent to where Hiro's room lay when they ran into a problem. Miku was standing guard outside Hiro's room. There was no way they could just walk up to Miku with Zero Two in tow and just enter the room.

"Damn it, I was hoping it wasn't going to come to this." Reaper whispered before turning to Zero Two and his squad. "We are going to have to knock her out."

Reaper looked back down the hallway and saw that there was a vent just behind Miku, looking up, Reaper saw that there was another vent in the wall just above them. Reaper pointed at the vent and then at Miku, his squad nodded. Crow and Cypress lifted Raven up to the vent where she used a shadow portal to hop inside. Reaper looked down the hallway at Miku and saw, a few moments later, another portal opening and Raven silently dropping down behind Miku. She crept up behind her and put her in a choke hold, covering her mouth and nose with her hand. Miku struggled for a minute, before collapsing due to lack of oxygen. Raven then looked left and right before giving the all clear for them to continue.

As Reaper approached he said,

"Tie her up and bring her in with us. We don't need her alerting security or the others that we are here."

Raven then produced a length of rope from her cloak before tying Miku up.

"Why do you always have rope in your cloak?" Zero Two asked.

"You never know when you need rope." Was all that Raven said as she finished tying Miku up.

Reaper then entered Hiro's room.

"Hiro, wake up. You have a visitor." Reaper said turning on the lights.

Hiro blearily opened his eyes before widening them with shock.

"Zero Two?!" Hiro said.

"Hello, Darling." Zero Two said, eyes looking at the ground in shame.

"Zero Two, come here." Hiro sighed out.

Zero Two stepped up next to the bed her eyes still looking down. Hiro sighed again before putting a finger under her chin to lift her gaze. As her eyes met Hiro's he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, Zero Two's eyes widened in shock.

Reaper's squad chuckled at the scene while Reaper himself just leaned against a wall with a satisfied smile on his face.

When they broke apart Zero Two's face was flush.

"It's not your fault Zero Two. I do not blame you and neither should you." Hiro said.

"But I killed you!" She cried.

"No, you didn't, I'm still here, I'm still alive. I'm not going anywhere, not again." Hiro said.

Zero Two looked at him in shock. "What are you…"

He placed his forehead against her horns and looked into her eyes. "I remember. I remember everything. I will not let them separate us again."

Zero Two's eyes widened before filling with tears. She lunged at him pulling him into a hug and kissing him again. Reaper could she her body shaking with relief. About that time, Reaper heard a sound coming from Miku. He looked down to see her staring at the two with confusion written all over her face.

"What are they doing? And why did you bring her here?" she asked, glaring at Reaper.

Glancing down at her he said, "What they are doing is called kissing, it's a very special thing that you only do to those you care for the most in your life. As for why we brought her here, like I told Ichigo earlier, she had no right to keep the two separated. There were things that needed to be said, and her keeping the two apart was only going to make things worse."

Zero Two was now sobbing into Hiro's chest, he was kissing her head and muttering things like "I'm here, I'm here." And "I'll never let them take you away from me again."

As Zero Two was sobbing into his chest, Hiro looked at Reaper and his squad gratefully. He mouthed a "Thank you" to them and Reaper nodded.

Reaper then cleared his throat to get Zero Two's attention, she looked up and realized who was in the room before blushing and wiping the tears away before standing.

"With the rate at which you are recovering, I should be able to spring you from medical tomorrow. Then we can sort out this mess with Ichigo." Reaper said and both Hiro and Zero Two nodded.

"Come on Zero Two, we need to get you back to your quarters before they realize you are gone." Owl said as they approached the door. Zero Two nodded before giving Hiro one last kiss before joining them. Reaper then turned a glare on Miku.

"Miku, not a word to anyone about this, until we get it sorted out." She nodded, shaking a bit in fear at the look he was giving her.

As they turned off the lights and closed the door behind them, Reaper turned and pressed a shadow wrapped hand against the door. The door was covered in shadow before the shadow dissipated. Reaper nodded, and they began to head back, leaving Miku to again guard the door.

"What did you do?" Zero Two asked.

"I warded the room so that only us, the doctors, the nurses, and Hachi and Nana can enter the room. I don't want Ichigo or the others going in there until we get this straightened out." Reaper said.

They snuck back through the plantation to the manor. Reaper removed the glass again so Zero Two could reenter her room, but before she did, she turned and hugged Reaper.

"Thank you, for letting me speak to my Darling." she said.

"No problem." Reaper said with a smile.

Zero Two then jumped back up and climbed into her room. Reaper put the window back together and Snake tapped it with his scythe causing the window to repair itself. Reaper knew that he was going to be in for one hell of an argument in the morning but was happy with the result none the less.

…

"Reaper! What the hell!" Ichigo shouted as she stormed back into the manor the next morning.

She had gone to see Hiro and found Miku asleep outside his room and a wall of shadow preventing her from entering. Reaper and his squad came down from upstairs with Zero Two in tow.

"What, is she doing, outside her room?" Ichigo asked darkly.

"Command asked to see her and I in the briefing room, so we are escorting her there. Also, since it seems that you cannot see reason, and listen to Zero Two's side of the story, I have barred you from talking to Hiro until he is released from medical, which will be once I get done with this meeting." Reaper said.

"You have no right!" she shouted.

"I do have the right, as you are being unreasonable to the point of blindness. You fail to think about your squad and are solely focusing on yourself and your emotions. I can understand that you are upset that he nearly died, but you are taking this too far. You have left me no choice but to pull rank until you calm down." Reaper said. "Now then if you will excuse me I have a briefing to get to."

They walked out the door leaving behind a fuming Ichigo.

…

"We asked both of you to come here because Papa would like to run a test." Hachi said. "Since you R-01, are the strongest of your squad, Papa would like to see what would happen if you were to pilot with 002."

"Since Code 016 is currently incapacitated, this is what Papa came up with in order to keep Strelitiza here as requested." Nana said.

"Hiro is not incapacitated." Reaper said calmly.

"Oh? And how do you know that?" Hachi asked.

"Because I spoke to him this morning. He is in a calm and sound state of mind with no lingering effects from the ride. The doctors have cleared him to leave medical as soon as I return from this briefing."

"Be that as it may. Papa would still like to run the test." Nana said.

"Alright, but I already know the results." Reaper said.

"And what would they be?" Hachi said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing would happen. Our thought processes and lines of thinking are too…different. We can't link because we don't work in the same way. I know you were hoping that the fact that we overpower our respective partners would help us link by negating the surge, but it won't work that way." Reaper said.

"We still wish to try." Hachi said.

"Very well."

As Reaper had expected, nothing had happened. No matter how hard they tried, they simply could not find each other's minds.

"Very well. Enough." Hachi said with a sigh.

Zero Two and Reaper climbed out of the mockup cockpit and approached.

"It seems you were right R-01." Hachi said. "And your absolutely sure that Code 016 is ready to deploy?"

"Yes, given another night's rest, he will be ready to deploy tomorrow." Reaper said.

"Well you won't be deploying tomorrow, but that is good to know none the less." Nana said.

"Do we not have to defend the plantation tomorrow?" Zero Two asked.

"No. As a reward for successfully completing the kissing operation, Reaper 1 as well as Squad 13 are being given a special vacation. We are currently headed to a location called a beach. You will be given a day's leave to go and enjoy yourselves on the beach." Nana said.

Zero Two's face lit up in excitement as she began to jump in place. Reaper however, gave a small smile to cover the hurt he was feeling. While Nana and Hachi fell for it, Zero Two noticed the pain behind the smile and resolved to find out why later.

Hachi cleared his throat trying to cover his smile at Zero Two's antics. "That is all. Dismissed."

The two left the briefing room and met up with the rest of Reaper 1 before heading to retrieve Hiro.

…

Hiro and Zero Two were quietly talking to each other as Reaper and his squad escorted them back to the manor. Zero Two was holding on to Hiro as if he would suddenly fade away. As they entered the manor, Reaper saw a pissed off Ichigo storming toward the two. Reaper sighed and stopped walking, his squad and the two love birds kept going for a few steps before realizing that Reaper had stopped. They looked at him questioningly.

"Go on." He told his squad. "Ichigo and I need to have a conversation. Come on." He grabbed Ichigo's arm and pulled her out of the house and into the surrounding forest where no one could hear them.

"SHE IS THE REASON HE ALMOST DIED!" She screamed at him. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU LET HER NEAR HIM!"

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, causing her to falter.

"It is quite obvious that you have yet to learn to control your emotions. You have spent the last 24 hours acting on your emotions instead of pausing to think about what you are doing. Did you even think to ask how she felt about all this? For god's sake, Ichigo put yourself in her shoes for once!"

"How many times must I say this! That monster," Ichigo said pointing back at the manor where Zero Two was, "is the reason that Hiro nearly died! She is called the partner killer for a reason!"

"Did you ever think that it wasn't intentional?! Did you ever once stop and think that it might not be her doing, that it just happens because that is the way she is? Because let me tell you something, if command had, had their way we would have been the same way! When we went through testing, we overpowered all the pistil's and stamen they gave us. Had they just chosen a partner for us we would have had the same reputation!" Reaper said.

"Irrelevant!" she shouted. "You took steps to stop it, she didn't! She did not care if she killed her partners! She did not care if she killed Hiro!"

"Don't you dare say she did not care. Ichigo, I doubt you were paying attention to the comms while fighting that thing, but when we forced her out of the cockpit after her rampage, she immediately began to cry over Hiro's body. Think about it Ichigo, what would you have done, if the person you care most about in this world, died right in front of you, and you couldn't do a thing about it. That monster, as you call her, has been beating herself up about what happened, and you have not been helping. She blames herself more than you do, for almost causing Hiro to die. She is a member of your squad, whether you like it or not, so get over yourself, and apologize for the pain you have put that girl through." Reaper said before he walked off.

Later that day Reaper saw Ichigo apologizing to Zero Two for acting out of turn. While Zero Two accepted the apology, Reaper knew it might take a while for her to truly forgive her for separating the two.

…

That evening, Reaper was out by the lake staring at his ring, thinking about where they were going. The beach. How many times had he taken Havana to the beach when they had leave? It was her favorite place to go. She liked it because it was a calm, relaxing, fun place to be. They usually they went as a group, with Owl dragging a reluctant James along. They would play volleyball, go swimming, barbeque, and have a big bonfire toward the end of the day. He and Havana would eventually sneak away while everyone else was occupied and enjoy some alone time, just the two of them. Until the rest of the squad found them anyway.

Reaper was so deep within his thoughts that he did not hear Zero Two approach.

"Who was she, to you?" Reaper's head jerked up, "And what happened to her?" Zero Two asked.

Reaper sighed. "I already figured out your story, you have the right to know mine."

Zero Two tilted her head.

"Tell me Zero Two, have you ever heard of the word marry?" Reaper asked.

"Yes, Darling promised that he would marry me some day when we were younger." She said.

Reaper chuckled. "May I live to see the day. Well that makes things easier then." Reaper tapped on his communicator a few times before an image came up. It was a woman with long brunette hair and royal purple eyes. She was wearing a deep blue dress and she had a slim build.

"This is Havana, and she was my wife. We were married for a little over 5 years on the day she died." Reaper said.

"Wait. How old are you?" She asked.

"28." He replied. "Our squad used to be a team of 8. Us six, plus my wife, Havana, and Owl's fiancé, James."

"Fiancé?" she asked.

"Someone whom you are engaged to. When you see Owl next, ask her to show you her left hand. The gold ring on her ring finger is her engagement ring. Anyway, we were deployed in one of the larger of two cities in an area, I forget its name now. Havana had come down with pneumonia and was hospitalized but was on the mend. I was sitting with her in the hospital when we received orders to sortie at the Breach. The two cities were surrounded by a large canyon that made it near impossible for Klaxosaurs to get over. There was one gap in the canyon that was our access to the cities, but it was also their way in called the Breach. The Breach was a two-mile gap that we used to funnel supplies and people in and out of the cities. Radar had detected a horde of about 30,000 Klaxosaurs approaching. It was too much for a single Reaper team to handle so they had called in Reaper Beta and Reaper Iota."

Reaper saw Zero Two flinch when he said iota. He wanted to ask but thought better of it.

"Our designations were given based on our establishment date. When we first came online we were given the designation of Delta but were promoted to Alpha but to our strength in shadow manipulation and number of flawless missions completed. Beta and Iota were strong squads, nowhere near what we were but they were the strongest of the others. Havana had not been cleared from medical, so she could not join us in the operation. I wanted to say behind and be with her, but she insisted that I go." Reaper paused.

"I should have ignored her. I should have stayed. If I had, I might have been able to get her out in time. She might still be alive. But I listened to her and asked James to sit with her until we returned, and he agreed. That decision, is my single, greatest, regret. The mission started off well enough, but after we killed about half the Klaxosaurs things started to go wrong. The ground began to shake and all the Klaxosaurs began to flee. Then that giant son of a bitch from yesterday burst out of the ground. It swung a hand and backhanded Beta and Iota squads into the canyon wall knocking them out and paralyzing a few of them. We then started to attack it, but it raised one of its massive feet and stomped sending us slamming into the ground. We were all knocked out, but before I fell unconscious I could hear the victory screeches of the Klaxosaurs as they raced past us. I heard the screams of those in the city as the Klaxosaurs ran in, running toward the magma energy reactor which powered the entire city. And just before I fell unconscious I heard that thing _laughing_. It is the only Klaxosaur I've heard before or since, have a physical voice. That damn thing was fucking laughing at us, at our failure. When we awoke half an hour later, we immediately ran to the city to see if we could prevent disaster from occurring. But we were too late. The Klaxosaurs had already detonated the reactor. The resulting blast had leveled the entire city. I remember running to the hospital and seeing its ruined state and falling to my knees." Tear were now running down Reaper's face.

"After digging through the rubble for nearly two days without rest, we found their bodies. James was covering Havana's body with his own, protecting her to his last breath. They both died to a steel beam. When it fell, it pierced through both their chests." Reaper was doing his best to keep it together but was failing. "I went to our master praying for a miracle, a miracle he could not deliver. Our master could sense souls, so I went to him to see if he could maybe bring them back. He-He couldn't find their souls. They were just, g-gone. My Havana, my one true love, the only reason I had to live, was just gone."

Reaper could no longer speak due to the tears streaming down his face. Zero Two walked up next to him and pulled him into a hug. Reaper was doing his best not to cry all over her. Neither of them heard Owl approach until she tapped Zero Two on her shoulder. Zero Two looked at her and she motioned her to move so she could take her place. She did so and Owl pressed Reaper's head into her chest.

"It's ok Reaper, it's me. You can cry now." Owl said gently.

Once Reaper realized it was Owl whose chest he was pressed into, he started bawling. Owl began rubbing his head as he cried. Owl turned to Zero Two.

"He still has a hard time with this part, so I'll finish for him. After our master stated that he couldn't find them, we had a burial ceremony. As per the two's request, they were cremated, and their ashes scattered in their favorite places. James's were scattered in one of the forests nearby. That man always loved nature, his scythe was named Terra and with it he could summon creatures from the earth or nearby plant life to help us fight. Havana's ashes were scattered at the nearby beach. Her scythe, Light, was always strongest in direct sunlight and was capable of summoning beams of shadow infused light from the heavens to annihilate enemies. After we scattered her ashes, Reaper lost it. While I was devastated from James's death, nothing could compare to Reaper's reaction. James meant everything to me, but Havana was Reaper's whole world. Without her, Reaper collapsed. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep, and he blindly did what he was told for missions. Command never gave us time to grieve, so we were forced to suppress our pain and keep fighting. He was like that for two weeks. What followed after is not something I want to remember." She shuddered. "That is why Reaper tells you not to be careless with Hiro. He doesn't want anyone to go through what he did."

Zero Two nodded. "Thank you, Reaper. You did not have to share that with me, but you did."

Owl nodded for Reaper who was still crying into her chest. "The only thing I ask is that you do not repeat this to anyone. This is Reaper's secret to carry. There are many questions buried in that story that, while you understand them, the others do not. Plus, things like love and marriage are banned subjects under Papa's orders. It would be best if you did not repeat it."

Zero Two nodded before walking away. Owl then looked back at Reaper, whose cries were quieting.

"It will be alright Reaper." Owl said.

After getting himself together, Reaper stood up. "Thank you, Owl."

"Anytime, Reaper. Let's try to enjoy ourselves tomorrow. It's not often that we get a break."

"Alright."

"Come on, let's get you to your room before you collapse. You're exhausted from that, you need to sleep." Owl said as they began to walk back to the manor.

…

 **At APE HQ**

"Nine Alpha, I need you to clear sub-base 37. It is preventing us from reaching the Gran Crevasse." Papa said.

"At once Papa." Alpha said and began to walk out.

"And take Reaper 1 with you." Papa added.

"Papa?" Beta asked confused.

"I would like to see how they do with a squad that is on par with them. Sub-base 37 is also a densely populated base, you would be overwhelmed. I cannot lose you." Papa said.

"Very well, Papa." Alpha said, they then bowed to him and walked off.

…

 **Klaxosaur territory**

 **Location: Unknown**

The admiral-haired girl was sitting in her room staring at an image of Reaper on a monitor with longing.

"How are you alive? You went missing on a mission. I sent out several of my children to find you only to come up empty handed. So how are you alive and well now?" She wondered aloud.

The door to her room opened and two people walked in closing the door behind them. The first was a male about 5'8''. He was wearing a black and blue cloak like she was and had forest green hair and brown eyes. The second figure was a girl. She was a blue skinned humanoid Klaxosaur with long flowing sky blue-white hair and prominent blue eyes with glowing blue pupils. She has dark lines under her eyes and all around her body. She also has eight spider-like appendages coming from her back and what seems to be a crown on her head, with two blue horns protruding from the center: one from her forehead and another from the back of the head.

"Your moping is disturbing the children, daughter. What is wrong?" The blue girl asks.

"Reaper and his squad are alive, Princess." She replied.

"What?!" the male askes looking shocked. "Are you sure H?"

"Easy, my son." The Princess says holding up a hand to calm him. "Do you have evidence?"

H nods and hands them a picture. "This was taken from the drone we sent to observe the battle yesterday. There is only one group that wears that uniform. It can't be any of the others, they are recorded KIA. They were the only ones marked missing. It has to be him, J."

J was staring at the short girl standing next to Reaper. "Owl." He muttered in shock.

The Princess looked over the image before handing it back to H. "I will send some of my children to make sure, daughter. For now, watch but do not try to contact them. This needs to be handled delicately or else it will, how do you say it? 'Blow up in our faces."' The Princess said before walking away.

She needed to be sure. If it indeed was Reaper and his squad, then this was going to throw a serious wrench in her plans. She knew what he and his squad could do, and to have them as the enemy is a serious issue. If it was them, they needed to be fed information slowly. They will need time to digest each piece of information. Time was something that they did not have though! The humans were rapidly progressing toward the Gran Crevasse, and _**they**_ would be back soon. She needed a united front when _**they**_ returned or else they would fail. Humanity needed to either give it up or die! She could not afford to lose!

* * *

 **A/N:** Welp, that happened. Who are H and J and how do they know Reaper and his squad? What will happen when Reaper 1 meets the 9s? Who is the mysterious _**they**_ , the Princess is referring to? Will Reaper ever get a decent night's sleep?! You will have to wait until the next chapter to find out. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	10. Chapter 10: Vacation

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 10: The Beach

So with Hurricane Michael rolling through the area last week i was able to get two chapters written for you. Enjoy!

* * *

When Reaper awoke the next morning, he was surprised to find that he had slept for over 13 hours, a new record for him. He was also surprised to find Owl asleep in a chair next to his bed. She sat next to his bed until he had fell asleep and apparently had fallen asleep soon afterward.

" _She worries about me too much."_ Reaper thought as he picked her up and carried her to her room. He placed her on the bed and tucked her in before exiting the room and closing the door. She would awake soon, it was 0545 hours. As he walked back into his room he noticed that his communicator had a message on it. After attaching it to his wrist he opened the message, apparently Dr. Franxx wanted to see him and Hiro in the hanger at 0730. Sighing at the fact that he had to deal with that annoying doctor, he left his room and went to the dining hall.

When he entered, he let out a small chuckle. Apparently, the invisible caretakers had figured out that Reaper and his squad were early risers, so they had placed out a small amount of food for them, so they did not have to wait for Squad 13 to wake up in order to eat. He grabbed a small amount of food and began to eat.

After about 20 minutes, he heard footsteps approaching. When he turned to the doorway he was unsurprised to see Owl standing there. He was surprised to see the state she was in though. Her brown hair was a mess, and her cloak was open, showing she was wearing a black sports bra and black panties. Reaper blushed and averted his eyes.

"Morning Reaper." She said yawning and stumbling into the room. She was apparently not fully awake yet.

"Um, Owl, your, uh, cloak is *cough* open." Reaper said embarrassed. While she did not have the same figure as Havana, she was very easy on the eyes, not that he would admit it to anyone.

Owl's eyes snapped open. "Huh?" she said and looked down. Her face turned beet red and she squeaked and fled the room. After getting himself together, and yanking his mind out of the gutter, Reaper continued to eat. Owl returned to the room a few minutes later looking like her normal self with a massive blush on her face.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Reaper" Owl said bowing.

"Your fine Owl. You were not fully awake yet, you have nothing to apologize for." Reaper said. _"Although the view was nice."_ Reaper mentally added.

Owl straighten up and entered the room to get her own breakfast, a blush still present on her face. After she began it eat she asked Reaper,

"How long did you sleep this time? And how did I get in my room?"

"Surprisingly, I slept for a little over 13 hours, a new record for me. As for how you got in your room, you fell asleep in the chair next to me, so when I awoke, I carried you back to your room."

Owl looked down to hide the blush that was rising to her face again. "Thank you, Reaper."

One by one, the rest of Reaper 1 trickled into the dining hall, saying their hellos and grabbing something to eat. When it was 0645 hours Reaper stood up and began to leave.

"Where are you going, Reaper?" Raven asked through a mouthful of waffles.

"Manners, Raven." Crow chided.

"I have to meet Dr. Franxx in the hanger with Hiro at 0730 hours. So, I'm going to go wake him up." Reaper said.

Owl whipped her head toward him, sending him a glare.

"Do not use the airhorn." Owl said.

"Aww, why not?" Reaper chuckled.

"No." Was her response.

"Fine, fine." He said before walking out.

All of Reaper 1 paused and waited to see what Reaper would do. They heard him walk up the stairs, and everything got quiet. They suddenly heard Reaper playing Reveille as loud as he could. They heard several exclamations of shock and the squad busted up laughing. Owl just looked resigned. They heard footsteps racing down the stairs and saw Reaper running past laughing his head off with a pissed of Ichigo right behind him.

"You only told me I couldn't use the airhorn!" Reaper shouted to Owl as he ran past.

"Get back here!" Ichigo shouted.

"Nope!" He shouted back as he ran out the front door.

…

At 0725 hours an annoyed Hiro and a happy Reaper were approaching the hanger bay.

"Was that really necessary?" Hiro asked.

"Well I wasn't allowed to use the airhorn so that was the next best thing." He replied.

As they entered the hanger bay the saw Nana looking at them. She took one look at them and sighed.

"What did you do?" she asked Reaper.

"Played Reveille at 0645 hours to wake him up." Reaper replied.

"Reveille?" Dr. Franxx asked.

Reaper nodded. "Reveille." He then pulled his trumpet out of shadow storage. Hiro covered his ears as Reaper played, everyone else jumped at the noise.

"Interesting. Well anyway, I called you two here for two different things. First, Hiro," the Doctor turned toward him. "I would like to congratulate you. You are now an official parasite, you are to be assigned here with Zero Two to defend the plantation. Also, a warning. If you always want to be Zero Two's partner, don't let her consume your emotions as well."

Hiro's eyes gleamed with challenge, Dr. Franxx did not know that he had regained his memories. The doctor was the reason that he lost his memories in the first place, thus he did not trust him.

"You are treading a very fine line Doctor." Reaper growled.

"At ease R-01, I'm not threatening anything. As for you, over the past day, your FranXX have been experiencing some...technical difficulties. I will have to take them with me, they are rather minor issues, but it will take a few days to repair."

Well, he called the issues minor, but they were in fact major concerns.

 _Flashback_

" _What is it Nana, it's too late for this" Dr. Franxx yawned as he entered the room._

" _You really need to see this doctor." She replied and gestured to the monitor which was showing footage from the hanger, about an hour ago._

 _All was quiet in the hanger for a few minutes before Dr. Franxx saw the impossible. Reaper 1's FranXX were beginning to_ _ **move**_ _. They each cracked their necks before shrugging their shoulders or attempting to move their legs. When the FranXX realize that they were shackled in place, a collective snarl was heard before all fell silent again. For a few moments nothing happened, then what looked like a wave of shadow passed through the room obscuring the camera. All that was heard for audio was static. This lasted for a few minutes before the camera cleared up and they saw that Reaper 1's FranXX were covered in shadow before it dissipated. All was silent before the footage looped again._

 _Anyone who knew Dr. Franxx on a personal level would have seen that he was giddy with excitement. Sadly, most of those people were dead, but that didn't matter. He needed to get his hands on those FranXX! They might have the key to fusing Shadow Energy and Magma Energy. The possibilities!_

" _Summon two transports, I need to look over those FranXX. The fact that they are moving on their own is concern enough for me to recall them." Dr. Franxx said._

" _What if they are needed to sortie?" Hachi asked._

" _I should have them back by the time they get back from their little vacation, but just in case shift them to standby status. If Squad 13 runs into something they cannot handle, recall them and put Reaper 1 in their FranXX." He replied. Dr. FranXX then walked out the door._

"Really now? What a shame." A boy with light blond hair and green eyes said. He was wearing an all-white uniform that was emblazoned with gold.

"And you are?" Reaper said raising an eyebrow, not impressed.

"Ah forgive me, I am Nine Alpha, leader of the 9's, Papa's elite parasites. Your squad and ours were scheduled for a mission, but I guess it will have to wait until your malfunctioning FranXX are returned."

Reaper had to bite back a growl. He did not like this child, he reeked of arrogance and had a major god complex.

"And you," Alpha said turning to Hiro, "must be Hiro, Iota's new toy. I must admit I'm impressed, I never expected to meet someone who was capable of riding with Iota more than three times." Alpha began to circle Hiro. "Not what I expected," Alpha said in a patronizing tone. "but perhaps that's why it worked. I'll be keeping an eye on you." Alpha then turned and walked away.

"Uh, thanks." Hiro said before looking at Reaper who was suppressing a snarl, his hand was twitching like he wanted to summon Harvester but wouldn't quite dare.

"Honestly," Nana scoffed. "who does that boy think he is?"

"Someone who needs to be knocked down a peg or ten." Reaper muttered.

"Anyway," Dr. Franxx said, catching their attention. "that is all. You may go."

As they started to walk away Nana called out to Reaper.

"Reaper!" Nana shouted.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Can you make sure everyone gathered in the living room at 0830 hours?"

"Of course, ma'am." The two then turned and exited the hanger.

…

As requested, at 0830 hours everyone was gathered in the living room. Ichigo was, once again, chasing Reaper around for waking her up at, what she considered, an ungodly hour of the morning, much to everyone's amusement. Squad 13 were doing their best to suppress their laughing while Reaper 1 wasn't even trying.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"I would like to see you try!"

"Why did you even make such a racket so early?!"

"I needed Hiro to get up and you just got caught in the blast! You didn't have to get up too!"

"There are quieter ways of waking someone up you know!"

"Yeah, but their no fun!"

"Grrr!"

Ichigo eventually ran out of steam and plopped down on the couches with her squad. Reaper joined his barely out of breath.

"We will see how you like it when I do it to you." Ichigo said.

"If you manage to get up early enough for that and manage to catch me sleeping, then I deserve it. But at that point you face the wrath of Owl." Reaper.

"Why?" Kokoro asked.

"Because she will have spent the previous two to three hours coming up with every argument she has to make me go to sleep and, a) you would have woken her up in the process and she likes her sleep, and b) you would have undone all her hard work." Reaper replied.

Nana then walked into the room.

"Alright children, as a reward for completing the kissing operation in such a spectacular manner, Papa have given you all a special vacation." Nana said.

"Vacation?" Ikuno asked.

"Right, we are headed to a place called a beach. When you go into the changing rooms, there will be special uniforms for you to select from. Once you have found one you like, meet me down at the docking bay. We will be arriving in an hour." Nana explained. She then turned and walked away.

Everyone then looked at each other before shrugging and heading to the changing rooms. When they arrived, they found out what Nana meant by 'special uniforms'.

"Ah, swimsuits." Reaper said as he opened the door.

"Swimsuits?" Miku asked.

"Swimsuits are clothing that is waterproof and doesn't weigh you down when wet." Raven explained.

As Reaper entered he heard Cypress and Raven explaining to the girls about the different types of swimsuits. He left them to it and went to pick out a pair for himself. As he was looking through the different designs he felt Crow nudge him.

"Reaper, what are you going to do about them?" Crow asked.

"I'll wear a shirt for now until we get there but… there is no way to hide them. The shirt will only make it worse once it gets wet." Reaper replied.

He was not looking forward to that conversation. His squad knew the reason behind his scars but no one else did. It was not going to be fun telling them where he got them.

As they exited the changing rooms he saw that the girls were all wearing thigh length shirts that covered their swimsuits, with the exception of Zero Two. Reaper had the feeling that she wanted to show off what she had to Hiro. And it appeared to be working, as Hiro seemed to be unable to tear his eyes away from Zero Two. Reaper snapped his fingers in front of Hiro's face a few times before he came back to reality.

"Getting lost Hiro?" Reaper said with a smile.

"Kinda." Hiro said rubbing the back of his head.

"Keep your eyes on the prize boy, the best is yet to come." Crow said as he walked past.

Hiro looked at Reaper confused.

"You'll see." Was all he said before he started walking to catch up with the others.

…

When they entered the docking bay they saw one of the doors was open and Nana was standing beside it. Reaper could see green beyond it.

"Alright children, the beach is just through the tree line. Follow the trail and it will take you right to it. We will bring you out food and things to spend the night out there. We will be back to pick you up at 0900 hours. Remember if you need us you have your communicators, otherwise be careful and have fun children." Nana said.

As Squad 13 walked off Nana stopped Reaper and his squad for a moment.

"Reaper 1, you guys are the oldest among them. Keep an eye on them and keep them safe." Nana asked.

"Of course, Nana. They're in good hands." Snake said, and they walked off.

When Reaper 1 caught up to Squad 13 they found them marveling at the forest around them. To them, it seemed more… real, than the one in the plantation. There were plants blooming everywhere and animals moving through the underbrush around them.

"It's amazing that places like this still exist." Ikuno said looking around her.

"Yeah, it's nice to know that some places weathered the desertification." Raven said.

The group continued walking. They soon heard the sound of waves crashing against the shore, and Reaper could smell the salty air. As they rounded another bend, Squad 13 was presented with their first view of the ocean. The water was a deep blue and the golden sand stretched for half a mile in either direction.

"It's the ocean!" Zorome shouted and ran forward.

"Hey, wait for me!" Futoshi shouted and ran after him. The two ran into the surf screaming like children. The others laughed and began to set things up. Once they had everything set up the girls began to take off the shirts they were wearing that were covering their swimsuits. Reaper, having seen Owl in a swimsuit multiple times, thought he would be prepared for this moment. Oh, how wrong he was. Owl was wearing a black two-piece swimsuit and her hair seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Her body was tight and toned, due to her work as a Reaper. Reaper found himself thinking about how she would look with nothing on, and quickly mentally slapped himself.

" _You are a married man, damn it! Stop thinking like that!"_ He thought.

" _You used to be a married man."_ Reaper suddenly heard in his head. _"And she used to be an engaged woman. Now neither of you are."_

"Master?" Reaper whispered.

" _There is no shame in looking Reaper, you know that. You two have more in common than you think. Don't shove her aside over something that can never happen again."_ Death told him.

Reaper shook his head and decided that he needed to swim in order to clear his mind. So, he took off his shirt and dived into the water. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you want to look at it, he took it off in front of the female half of his squad and Squad 13. He did not hear the sudden intake of breath. Reaper had a well-defined six pack and muscular arms. While he wasn't built like Cypress was, but he wasn't bad. But it was ruined by the scars. Reapers chest and back were a patchwork of scars, long and short scars trailed across his body. He also had a line of 5 scars across his right wrist. Ichigo was looking at the scars in horror and opened her mouth to ask but was stopped by Owl.

"Don't ask." Was all she said.

"But…" Kokoro started to say.

"Don't. The only thing you need to know is that Reaper has had a hard life." Cypress said.

Back with the boys, Zorome, Futoshi, and Goro were all looking back at the shore staring at the girls.

"Is it just me, or are the girls were 50% cuter today." Zorome said.

"Yeah the view is certainly nice." Goro said.

Zorome and Futoshi looked at him confused.

"What did you say Goro?" Futoshi said.

"Yeah, for a moment it sounded like you were one of us." Zorome said.

Reaper surfaced next to them. "He is a guy just like the rest of you. He acts no differently than you would." Reaper said.

As he looked back at the beach, Reaper saw that Snake was sitting in the shade of the umbrella talking to Ikuno while the two held to different books, Kokoro and Miku were playing a game of volleyball, and Cypress, Owl, and Ichigo were relaxing in the sand working on their suntans. Reaper heard Hiro and Zero Two behind him to his left talking quietly about something. Goro, Futoshi, and Zorome were all staring at Reaper in shock. Reaper wondered why they were staring at him when he realized he was in the water.

He sighed "Right, scars."

"What happened?" Goro asked.

"Don't ask. All I will say is that I went through a few years of hell and this was the result." He said gesturing to his scars.

Zorome looked over his shoulder at Hiro and Zero Two just in time to see the two kissing.

"He has a lot to answer for, let's go." Zorome said and dived beneath the water, Goro and Futoshi following. Reaper sighed.

"I better go do damage control." He said before diving beneath the water.

Even though he was underwater, he could still hear bits of their conversation.

"…this is…feels like. Finally made…thanks…Darling." Zero Two said.

"Zero Two…can't look…right now." Hiro said.

"What…wrong?"

"No, no…look great…seeing you…swimsuit…"

"…Darling…saw…naked before."

" _Wait, What?!"_ Reaper thought.

"…That…on accident." Hiro said.

"…you…kissed…other than me?"

Reaper then saw Hiro get pulled underwater by Zorome and Futoshi. Hiro seemed to sigh before following them. Reaper surfaced behind Zero Two.

"The need to borrow him for a while. I apologize for interrupting the moment." Reaper said.

Zero Two turned to respond to him but it died on her lips as he beheld his scars. Reaper grimaced, was this going to be everyone's response? Zero Two suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his right wrist and turned it over. She gently ran a finger over the 5 scars along his wrist. She then looked at him.

"Why?" she asked.

Reaper sighed. "After I got over my grief, I blamed myself for Havana's death. As a result, I felt I needed to punish myself for failing, I still do. And this is the result, I have a cut on my wrist for every year that Havana has been dead." Reaper said.

"And these?" she asked, tracing the scars on his chest.

"Rage." Was all he said and Zero Two nodded in understanding.

She then shocked Reaper by pulling him into a hug, placing her head on his chest.

"You need not hurt yourself anymore, Friend. You have healed my hurts, let me heal yours." She said after she had let him go.

Reaper looked at her in shock.

She gave him a sly look. "I think Owl would be a good match for you."

"Don't you dare." He said.

"Hey guys! Come over here! Mitsuru found something!" Goro shouted to them.

Reaper and Zero Two looked at each other before shrugging and swimming their way back to shore where the others were standing.

" _Friend?"_ Reaper thought. _"She considers me a friend? Not simply an ally?"_

…

"We are here." Mitsuru said as they reached the top of a nearby cliff.

What lay before them was the ruins of a sea-side town. The forest was already well on its way to reclaiming the town, there were vines growing up all the buildings and plants and grass were growing through the sidewalks and streets. Reaper's squad grimaced. Another abandoned town.

"What was this place?" Kokoro asked as she turned to Reaper 1, since they were the resident experts on all things considered ancient.

"An old sea-side town. Such places tended to be popular retirement destinations as there wasn't the rush of larger cities and there was almost always nice weather." Snake said.

"We never had the chance to explore the city we found you guys in." Ichigo said. "Why don't we take a few hours and go explore? We can meet back here at sundown." Everyone nodded, and they split off into pairs, Ichigo and Goro, Zero Two and Hiro, naturally, Kokoro and Mitsuru, Futoshi and Ikuno, Cypress and Snake, Crow and Raven, and Reaper and Owl. While Squad 13 was actually there to explore, Reaper and his squad were there to do as they had in the city they had awoken in, collect information.

…

They reconvened at sundown at the entrance to the town. They were tired, there feet were sore, and had more questions than they did answers. Reaper met with his squad to discuss anything they had found.

"Anything?" Owl asked.

"From what we observed, either these people were given no time to prepare to flee or…" Raven trailed off.

"…they didn't get out." Crow finished for her.

"I found something of interest Reaper." Snake said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I found some notes from a retired researcher. They were examining the effect of the Immortality elixir on humans. The notes are faded but I got the gist of it. Humans given the Immortality injection have to live in sterile environments. If they don't, they risk getting infected, but by what it does not say. Also, being in the same sterile room with someone who is not immortal causes them to become sick as well."

"Immune system suppression maybe?" Reaper said putting a hand on his chin.

"That's not all, the notes were too faded to read properly, but there was mention of YBC's causing rapid ageing." Cypress said.

"What?" Owl said.

"Beyond mentioning that it happens to people with YBCs I could not read anymore of it." Cypress said.

Their eyes wandered to the children who were starting to trickle in.

"'Protect the children'." Reaper muttered. "Does Master know something we don't?"

"Keep an eye on them. If one of them begins to experience rapid ageing find a way to pull them from active duty, and keep an eye out for other notes about this. We need to find a cure and we need to find it fast." Reaper said.

"Yes sir." They all said and went and joined Squad 13.

"I don't get it, why is this place empty? Why did everyone leave all their things here?" Zorome asked.

"They had to abandon it." Zero Two said wistfully.

"She is right. Humanity used to live on the surface. Cities and towns like this one used to spiderweb across the globe. We were forced to pack in with the arrival of the Klaxosaurs, and when the desertification started, we had to abandon some areas entirely." Crow said.

"Most likely this town was one of the areas that we were forced to abandon. When the order was given, you were given no chance to pack your things, you had to go right then." Reaper said.

After a moment Ichigo said,

"It looks like we are all here, let's head back."

"Man, I'm exhausted." Miku complained.

"Now we can cook food!" Futoshi says excited.

Everyone laughs, helping to brighten the mood. They all follow Ichigo and Goro back down the cliff back to camp.

…

"How the hell did all this get here?" Raven asked as she and the others looked at the sleeping bags, burning fire and shish kabobs that were roasting above it.

"Who cares? Let's eat!" Futoshi says grabbing a skewer and biting into it. "Ow! Hot, hot, hot!" he yells burning his mouth.

Everyone sits and shares about the things they found in the town. Reaper and his squad, naturally, keep quiet about the research they found, they did not want to scare the children. They chatted for a while until Miku walked over. She grumbled about being tired before sitting next to Kokoro and putting her head in her lap.

"Miku, what are you doing?" Kokoro asks blushing.

"Hey, boys. Pick your jaws up, your embarrassing yourselves." Reaper snapped to Zorome and Futoshi whose tongues were waggling and their were eyes bulging. Reaper could feel the glare that Owl was sending at them.

"Miku, where are your manners?" Kokoro asked.

"I don't care right now." She replied. "I'm tired and you are comfortable, plus the boys are just jealous that I got the lap and they don't."

"Hey Reaper, what was life like when people lived outside the plantations?" Hiro asked.

"Where did that come from?" Zorome asked.

"I don't know, I'm just curious." He replied

"Well it depended on what you decided to do with your life. Beyond the mandatory 8 years of school, you could decide to do what you wanted. If you were a civilian, you could finish High School and go to college and get a degree for a better job or climb your way up the corporate ladder from the bottom to reach the top. Money or currency was a necessity, so you needed to do something to get it. Most worked a standard 9-5 job. You could run for a variety of official positions if you wanted to. Everyone had a say in the way that the governments were run. If you were in the military like we were, you were trained to fight and defend your country and those who lived in it. After at least 4 years or so you were given the option to leave and join the civilian world or reenlist and continue. Things were not always balanced. There were those who had more than others and there were those who had less, but the system worked. There were uprisings every now and then with unruly groups but all in all, before the Klaxosaurs showed up, it was a simpler, peaceful time." Reaper explained.

"That sounds great and all but look at what Papa and APE have done for us." Zorome said. "No one has any hardships, and no one has to work, and Papa makes all the decisions for us. There is no inequality between us and everyone is treated the same. The adults get to live the life of luxury while we defend them, and soon we will become adults as well!"

Reaper and the others just shook their heads. To them, that sounded like a dictatorship or a utopia. Everyone was equal, but it stifled growth. One person made all the decisions, and everyone just went along with it.

"*Yawn* I'm tired, when are we going to bed?" Miku asked.

Everyone agreed with that sentiment and began to break out the sleeping bags. Zero Two however wanted to go for another swim so she dived back into the water. Reaper saw Hiro look after her concerned.

"I'll keep an eye on her Hiro, go to bed." Reaper said, and Hiro nodded.

Reaper sat on a nearby rock, keeping one eye on Zero Two while looking at the stars. One nice thing about magma energy was that, with coal and oil no longer burning, the stars were easier to see. He heard Owl approach and she sat down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Today was a good day, wasn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah." Reaper replied.

They were silent for a moment before Owl said,

"These kids have no idea, do they?"

"None at all. That is why we need to protect them, to keep the truth from hurting them so much when they finally figure out that Papa is using them."

They sat watching the stars until Owl fell asleep. Reaper then picked her up and tucked her into her sleeping bag and went back to stargazing. Zero Two eventually got out of the water and wished Reaper good night before falling asleep beside Hiro. Reaper was the only one awake for the rest of the night, as he watched the millions of stars shine in the night sky.

* * *

 **A/N:** Poor Reaper, having gone through so much hell from the loss of Havana. While I do not suffer from depression myself, I do know people who do. To those who have depression, I hope reading my story helps, even if it is only a little bit! As always, comments and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	11. Chapter 11: Boys VS Girls

0Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 11: Boys VS Girls

"Damn it! Why won't you die?" Zorome shouted as Argentea dug her claws into the Klaxosaur.

"Just keep hitting it, it will die eventually." Delphinium said.

They had been given orders to sortie earlier in the morning to deal with the Klaxosaur. Reaper 1 had not been called in as their FranXX were still undergoing repairs.

Nana was observing from the briefing room. They were having issues with the Klaxosaur but there was still no need to call Reaper 1 yet, they hadn't been overwhelmed. That was, until Reaper 1 burst through the briefing room door.

"Why were we not informed that there was a sortie going on?" Reaper demanded.

"It wasn't necessary for you to know so we didn't call you." Nana replied.

"Irrelevant. We know a lot more about Klaxosaurs then they do, we could give them tips on how to kill them." Crow said.

"Reaper? Is that you?" Reaper heard Hiro say over the comms.

"Hey, Reaper!" Zorome shouted as Argentea dodged a bite from one of the Klaxosaur's heads. "What the hell is this thing and how do we kill it?"

"That we call that thing a…" Snake started to say before Owl interrupted.

"Look out!" Owl shouted.

The Klaxosaur reared up and spun like a sprinkler, spraying a blue goop everywhere.

"…*sigh* acid tank. It's a Moho class that spews acid out its mouth as a defensive maneuver. Snake finished.

"What the hell was that?" Argentea asked looking at the blue goop that was covering them all.

"It…doesn't hurt?" Chlorophytum said, confused.

"It's kinda sticky." Genista said.

"It doesn't do anything?" Delphinium said.

"How dare you spew this disgusting stuff on our FranXX!" Argentea shouted at the Klaxosaur.

" _Something's not right. That acid should be melting though the metal of the FranXX like butter."_ Reaper thought staring at monitors showing the cockpits. Reaper then heard a sizzling sound coming from the speakers. Looking at the monitors, he saw that the blue goop was coming through the ceiling of the cockpits. It began to drip onto the pistil platforms, melting the girl's uniforms.

"Oh shit." Reaper said.

The boys were failing miserably at trying not to stare as the girl's uniforms melted off of them. The only one who managed relatively well was Hiro.

"Zorome why are you spacing out?" Argentea asked.

"Futoshi, is everything alright? I can't move." Genista said.

"It's-it's nothing." Zorome said.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Futoshi said.

"Let's finish this darling." Strelitiza said as she began to rush toward the Klaxosaur again. It began to spew more goop onto her, but it didn't deter her. She ran the Klaxosaur through with her spear, core impaled on the tip.

"Girls, get to the hanger bay. Double time." Reaper said, and they girls ran off.

"This is not going to end well." Crow said.

"No, no its not." Snake replied.

Hiro then chose that moment to tell the others what happened.

"Zero Two, we have a problem." Hiro said.

"Don't!" Zorome and Futoshi shouted.

"You're about to be exposed!" Hiro said.

A live image then appeared showing Zero Two with most of her uniform melted off. The other girls then shrieked realizing that the same thing had happened to them.

"Goro, don't look!" Ichigo shouted.

"My parasite suit!" Miku cried out.

Nana then shut off the feed as Reaper turned to males of his squad.

"*sigh* Squad, damage control." Reaper said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Nana stopped them. "Until they get this problem sorted, you all will be on active status while Squad 13 will be in reserves. I have a feeling that if they were to pilot after this, they would not be able to link up. Dismissed." She walked out.

…

As the male half of Reaper 1 entered the hanger bay they found that Squad 13 was split along gender lines and the girls were glaring at the guys. Reaper walked up behind Owl putting his hands on top of her head. She shoved him off and turned around to face him.

"How bad?" he whispered.

"Furious." Was her reply.

"Lovely." Reaper sighed out.

"You've got it all wrong, we didn't tell you because we did not want you to be distracted from the battle" Goro said, trying to calm down Ichigo.

"In my case, it was simply because I found you too beautiful for words Kokoro." Futoshi said.

Reaper heard Snake facepalm behind him.

"This is stupid." Mitsuru said and walked off. Reaper sent Crow after him, he was not getting out of this. Reaper began to approach the group as Zorome opened his mouth.

"What's the big deal," Zorome said nonchalantly, Reaper started running. "It's not like us seeing you hurt you at all."

Miku's face filled with fury but before she could say anything, Reaper came in and decked Zorome.

"It's a very big deal, you asshole." Reaper said coldly.

The girls of Squad 13 looked at Reaper in shock.

Zorome glared at Reaper from the ground.

"Count yourself lucky that we are not back in our time. If we were, I would have beaten you half to death for that comment." Reaper said.

Reaper then turned and began to walk away but not before giving orders.

"Cypress, Raven, Owl, get these girls some new clothes and take them back to the Birdcage. Crow, Snake, teach these three idiots about why what they did was wrong. Hiro and Mitsuru are free to go."

"What! Why are they free to go?" Zorome complained.

"Shut. Up. Zorome." Reaper said in a deadly tone glaring at him from the corner of his eye. Zorome shrunk back behind Goro.

"Where are you going Reaper?" Zero Two asked.

"To the Lake, before I actually beat the shit out of Zorome." Reaper said before walking out, slamming the door behind him.

…

When the boys got back from their…discussion with Snake and Crow. They found a line of tape diving the manor in half. The girls were waiting for them.

"Listen up, no boys are allowed to cross this line." Miku said gesturing to the line of tape on the manor.

"Who died and left you in charge?" Zorome asked as he prepared to step across the line.

"Zorome, set one foot across that line and you will regret it." Miku said sending a death glare at him.

Zorome froze and slowly withdrew his foot from nearing the line. The others, with the exception of Crow and Snake, cowered in fear at the look she was giving them. Ichigo then stepped forward.

"Crow, Snake, you and the rest of your squad are exempt to this rule since you sided with us. Please inform Reaper when you see him again." Ichigo said.

"Yes ma'am" Crow said bowing.

The boys glared at the two.

"Glad we got that sorted." Miku said and the girls walked up the stairs.

…

Reaper was still out at the lake at sundown trying to cool off by meditating. It wasn't working. He was still as pissed at Zorome as he was when he got there.

"Screw this." Reaper said as he stood up.

He summoned Harvester and walked over to a nearby patch of forest and went to town. It was in the middle of his rampage that Ichigo found him. She was watching in shock as he sliced trees in half and obliterated rocks, when Zero Two walked up behind her and touched her shoulder.

"I'll get his attention." Zero Two said and started to walk into his line of sight.

When Reaper saw Zero Two his rage subsided, and he looked around at the damage he had caused before spotting Ichigo staring at him, and the damage he caused, in shock. Reaper banished Harvester and walked over to Ichigo.

"Was there something you needed Ichigo?" Reaper said.

"H-How…" she trailed off before gathering herself. "There have been some changes at the manor that you need to be aware of. We have divided the manor in half, one side belongs to the girls and one side belongs to the boys. You and your squad are exception to this rule since you sided with us."

Reaper nodded. "Very well, I only hope that this condition is temporary. Things like this can hinder squad effectiveness."

Ichigo then looked around at the damage again before looking back a Reaper. He looked a bit sheepish.

"I apologize for any damage I do to the forest. I need to get my rage out before I kill someone by accident." Reaper said.

Ichigo nodded and she and Zero Two walked away. Reaper then summoned Harvester back as his vision turned red again and continued to assault the forest. When his vison finally cleared on its own, he found that he had destroyed a 200-yard section of forest.

" _Well now that, that is out of my system let's head back."_ Reaper thought before turning and heading back to the manor.

…

The next morning, when Reaper and his squad exited their wing of the manor they saw the male half of Squad 13 walking down the stairs only wearing swim clothes

"What are you guys doing?" Owl asked.

"We are not allowed in the baths, so we are going to bathe in the lake." Hiro said.

"The water is rather cold, make sure to place your clothes in the sun so they stay warm." Was all Reaper said before they entered the baths.

…

Around lunchtime, reaper and his squad heard a commotion in the main hall and went to investigate. When they entered they saw that the boys had moved the tape so that they could enter the dining room and the girls could not.

"…noticed that you hadn't taped this part of the house off, so we decided to move in." Goro said.

"Today's lunch is great!" Zorome said, stuffing his face.

"Don't worry girls, we well go get you some food." Crow said, and Reaper nodded.

As they went to step across the line Zorome spoke up.

"Ah, ah, ah, Reaper. You and your squad sided with the girls, so you're not allowed in here either." Zorome said.

"Zorome that's not a good…" Goro started to say before trailing off witnessing what was happening.

The shadows in the room danced. A black aura surrounded Reaper and his eyes began to glow a bright red. The temperature in the room plummeted and Harvester appeared on Reaper's back.

Reaper let out a loud growl. "You have three seconds to resend that statement and apologize for trying to order me around before I kill you."

The tension in the room continued to build as Zorome remained silent. Reaper's hand began to reach behind him to grab Harvester, when the Klaxosaur alarm went off shattering the tension. Reaper growled as Harvester vanished.

"We are not done with this conversation." Reaper said before him and his squad started to leave.

"Where are you guys going?" Miku asked.

"To sortie. You all are too unstable to pilot a FranXX right now. Since our FranXX are still undergoing repairs, we will be using three of yours." Reaper said as his squad walked out.

…

As they entered the hanger bay and went up to some of the FranXX they ran into an interesting problem. The cockpits of Genista and Argentea refused to open, even after pulling the emergency lever. So, Owl and Reaper, as well as Crow and Raven, had to change FranXX. When Snake and Cypress approached Chlorophytum however, the cockpit opened on its own. Snake and Cypress shrugged before entering. The same thing happened when Crow and Raven approached Delphinium and when Reaper and Owl approached Strelitiza. Even though Snake and Cypress connected first, they were unable to move until Strelitiza walked past them and out the door.

Reaper chuckled. "They won't go without their two leaders. It's almost like they are alive."

The Klaxosaur in question was a Moho class of the larval type. Too many of them must have bunched up in an area and merged to create this beast. The Klaxosaur was easily dealt with, but Reaper noticed something. The FranXX were moving more fluidly than they did during the Kissing operation. Doing twists and turns that previously, weren't possible for the FranXX. Although it was not until the fight had ended that something strange had happened.

After they had killed the Klaxosaur, the other two were heading back to the hanger but Strelitiza refused to move. Reaper tilted his head at the controls, this was new, the FranXX never refused to move unless there was a connection issue. Then, the FranXX moved _on its own_. _"What the hell?"_ Reaper thought as it walked over to the dead Klaxosaur.

"Reaper, what are you doing?" Owl asked.

"This is not me." Reaper replied.

Reaper found that he could not remove his hands from the controls.

"Owl try to exit the controls." Reaper said to her.

After a minute of struggling she replied, "I can't."

" _Oh boy."_ Reaper thought.

Over the comms, the others seemed to be having the same issue, as their FranXX suddenly turned around to watch what Strelitiza was doing. Owl and Reaper were taken along for the ride as Strelitiza walked up next to the dead Klaxosaur. She knelt down and examined the Klaxosaur, before summoning their scythe and impaling its head. She then stood, banished the scythe, and walked herself back into the hanger, the other two following. All without the Reapers doing anything. It was only after they deactivated could Reaper and the others let go of the controls.

"What the hell was that?" Crow asked as they exited.

"I don't know. Don't mention this to anyone until we figure out what is going on, understood?" Reaper said.

"Yes, sir." Everyone replied, and they headed back to the manor.

…

As they approached the manor they saw an irate Nana standing in the door with her eye twitching. Looking past her, Reaper saw that the girls where standing in the bathroom pelting the guys, who had apparently walked in on them, with anything within reach. The twitch in Nana's eye was getting worse. Just as she was about to say something, Reaper stopped her.

"I got this." He said.

Reaper wrapped his foot in shadow and slammed it into the ground, sending out a shockwave of shadow which knocked everyone off their feet. When they got to their feet they turned to see an annoyed Reaper and an irate Nana standing in the doorway. Reaper's shadow twitched and the basket of clothes, which Zero Two had stolen, appeared between the two groups.

"Boys, go to your rooms and get dressed, then report to the lounge. You too girls." Nana seethed.

"But," Zorome started to say.

"NOW!" Nana shouted, and everyone scurried off.

Several minutes later everyone was gathered at the base of the stairs where Nana was scolding them.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you. I would have thought that Reaper and his squad replacing you to sortie would have been enough motivation for you to get your acts together but apparently not." Nana seethed.

"You are all Parasites now, don't forget what comes first and foremost in your lives. Reaper 1 stay here, the rest of you, go back to your rooms, dismissed." Hachi said.

Hachi then turned to Reaper and his squad.

"First I would like to thank you for covering for Squad 13 today."

"Of course, sir." Reaper said.

"Secondly, would you have actually killed Code 666 this morning had you not been interrupted?"

"If he had not responded, yes I would have attempted to. My squad would have stopped me from killing him entirely, but he would have been severely injured after I was done with him. That boy has neither the rank nor the respect from me to order us around and I was not going to stand for it." Reaper replied.

"Very well." Hachi said, making a mental note to keep an eye out in case a repeat of this morning occurs again.

"Reaper 1 I have a mission for you, help the squad patch things up. I do not want a repeat of today." Nana said, causing Hachi to look at her.

"Yes, ma'am" Reaper replied, and he and his squad bowed to her before splitting off to talk to each group.

Hachi looked at Nana. "This needs to be solved now." Nana said, watching Reaper 1 go off. "Reaper 1 has a mission with the 9's when they get their FranXX back and we need 13 operational when that happens."

…

 **Meanwhile with Dr. FranXX**

"Where is it, where is it? I only have a few more days until I have to return these damn FranXX." Dr. FranXX said as he was fighting with Black Rose to find out how the Reapers were capable of Umbrakinesis.

"Damn it I made you, quit being so stubborn!" the doctor said.

He was then backhanded by Black Rose and flew into the wall falling unconscious. He would not remember what happened to him when he awoke. Black Rose and the others were glaring at him before Black Rose huffed and she and the others deactivated.

…

 **Back with Reaper and Squad 13**

"Man, I'm pissed." Zorome said from his bunk. The guys had gathered in their room to discuss what happened. "Since when do the girls get off treating us like that?"

"They treat us like that because they do not think highly of us." Mitsuru said.

"No one asked for your opinion." Zorome said glaring at Mitsuru before looking at Reaper and his group. "You guys didn't help either, you sided with them so why are you here?"

"We are here because you refuse to admit you are wrong. Mitsuru does have the right of it, they treat you like that because you treat them so poorly." Crow said.

"I do sorta feel bad but looking back it was fun." Hiro said from the chair he was sitting on.

"What?" Futoshi said.

"I think Zero Two was having fun as well." Hiro continued as if he had not heard. "She was laughing the entire time. You know, now that I think about it, we should consider our partners feelings more."

"Why would we do that? They are nothing but a bunch of crazy weirdos." Zorome said.

"Zorome, when someone smarter than you is talking, shut up." Snake said, having had enough of the boy's attitude. "You might learn something."

Mitsuru snorted and Hiro and Futoshi chuckled.

"Your right," Hiro says, "I don't completely understand Zero Two either, but that is why I want to learn more about her. That way I can help her and support her."

Reaper smiled behind his cloak. _"There is hope for you yet Hiro."_

"If you're talking about Zero Two, you are wasting your breath. She is the ultimate pistil, she doesn't, and never will, need anyone's help." Mitsuru said.

"Wrong. Aside from her looks, she is as human as the rest of us. She makes her mistakes and has her flaws just like everyone else." Hiro said glaring at Mitsuru. _"Ultimate pistil? Seriously?"_ Hiro mentally scoffed. Sure, she was strong, but she had her flaws. She was not perfect and that is why Hiro loved her.

"The girls jobs as pistils, means that every time we go onto the battlefield, they have to be able to trust us. We may control the FranXX, but it is their frail bodies that suffer when we screw up." Hiro said.

"Whoa, I never thought about it like that." Futoshi said and the others looked shocked too.

" _Seriously, they just now thought about this? It was the first thing we thought of."_ Reaper thought.

"That is why I want to get stronger. That way she won't get hurt because of me." Hiro said. _"She has suffered enough at the hands of APE, she doesn't need any more pain."_ He mentally added and saw that Reaper silently nodded at him.

"Your right, with the trust that they place in us, it is wrong for us to be back there ogling them and not giving our all." Goro said.

"No wonder they want nothing to do with us." Futoshi said, hanging his head.

"I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong." Zorome said. "I worry about Miku too, I don't want to get her hurt."

"Well then, gentlemen. There is only one thing left to do." Reaper said, and the boys filed out.

"I'm just saying, I'm not going to beg for forgiveness." Zorome said.

Reaper just shook his head. _"Of course, you won't."_

…

As they entered the foyer, Owl came running up to Reaper, worry in her blue eyes.

"Owl, what's wrong?" Reaper asked.

"We can't find Miku." Ichigo said coming up behind her.

Reaper's priorities immediately shifted. "Cypress, Raven and Crow, take the forest. Search every inch. Owl, Snake, and I will search with 13 in here. There are several hallways we have never been down, she might be there. Go." He said, and Cypress, Raven and Crow immediately headed for the forest. The rest began to scour the manor, searching everywhere for Miku. After an hour, everyone had gathered in the foyer, no one had seen Miku. As the clock struck 10 Reaper became worried, he went out himself to search the forest but came back empty handed. As the clock struck 11, the house was filled with silence, it was then shattered by the sound of glass breaking and Miku screaming.

"MIKU!" Zorome shouted and raced to where they had heard the scream, one of the abandoned wings on the first floor. They came across a hallway with rooms that had crime scene tape across them, only one of the tape was torn off.

"I'm coming Miku!" Zorome shouted as he tried to ram down the door but failed.

"Move." Reaper said shoving him aside.

Reaper created a ball of shadow in his hand before releasing it toward the door. The shadow ball went flying toward the door, blowing it inward and nearly knocking it off its hinges. Zorome raced into the room Reaper right behind him, Harvester at the ready. As Zorome checked over Miku Reaper scanned the room, everything was covered in dust, an inch thick at least. Only one set of footprints, and those were Miku's, so he deemed the room safe and banished Harvester.

Looking around again Reaper saw that there were personal effects on the walls and the layout was similar to Goro and Hiro's room, so he assumed that it was a parasite's room.

"What is this place?" Hiro asked.

"The room of a former squad 13 parasite I'd say." Zero Two said from the door.

"Former?" Mitsuru whispered.

"Squad 13?" Ikuno whimpered in horror.

"Makes sense, there was a squad here before we came." Goro said, looking at a picture, the glass was broken so it must have been what shattered earlier which sent them all running.

"Well, where are they now?" Zorome asked.

Zero Two gave the obvious answer but Reaper and his squad were not paying attention. They could sense the souls of the former Squad 13 lingering within the room.

"You should not be lingering here." Reaper muttered, and the souls stirred.

Squad 13 had already started to walk out of the room when Ichigo turned around and asked,

"Reaper, are you guys coming?"

"We will be along after a while," Cypress said. "we want to poke about for a bit."

Ichigo nodded her head and left.

Reaper then walked into the center of the room.

"Why are you all still here? Your task is done." Owl said, and Reaper felt fear.

Submerging his vision into the Shadow Realm, Reaper could see the souls of the former Squad 13 huddling in the corner of the room. They all appeared as floating balls of white light that hovered at about chest height. Reaper could feel the souls fear rolling off of them. while they did not know who their master was, but they know what he did, and they were afraid. Raven then stepped forward.

"Why do you wish to stay?" Raven said in her most gentle voice. "Staying here only causes you more pain. Do you not wish to be free?"

Owl stepped forward and held out a hand. Reaper watched as a soul floated forward and rested in her hand.

"Do not be afraid children." Owl said in a soft voice. "our master may appear to be scary, but he will grant you the rest that you deserve. Do you not wish to see the other children? They are waiting for you, they miss you."

Crow and Cypress then stepped forward.

"Our master will free you from the pain you are experiencing." Crow said.

"Do not worry, you are bound for a better place, we can assure you." Cypress said.

Finally, Snake stepped forward.

"No more pain, no more suffering, no more having to fight." Snake said.

"All you have to do is take our hands." Reaper said, and held out a hand, the others doing so as well. One by one the children left the corner and floated forward. They each landed in a Reaper's hand, as they did, they glowed a bright white before vanishing. Now only two remained huddled in the corner, they were very afraid of what came next. Reaper got down on his knees.

"Come 235, 126, your Nana is waiting for you. She would like to speak with you again." He said holding out his hand. The two children then came out of the corner and took his hand they too glowed a bright white before vanishing. Reaper and his squad heard the joyful sound of children laughing and a whispered "Thank you." From a young female voice before all fell silent.

Reaper then shook his head.

"So many children sacrificed, and for what end?" he said, his voice filled with sorrow.

Owl tugged on his arm. "Come on Reaper, our job is done here. From the sound of it the children have already settled things and gone to bed."

"I will go in a minute, you go ahead." Reaper replied.

Owl looked at him concerned before giving him a kiss on the cheek, which shocked him, and walking off.

After she was gone Reaper put a hand to where she kissed him before dropping it and saying,

"You can come out now, Zero Two."

He heard her footsteps enter the room and he turned around to see her shocked expression.

"You saw?" Reaper said.

She nodded. "What-what was that?" she asked.

He decided to give it to her straight, there was a lot she knew about them so straight answers would be less confusing.

"The souls of the children refused to move on, they were scared of what comes after, so we had to convince them that hanging around here was causing them more pain and that was lies beyond was a better place for them."

She nodded but still looked a bit confused. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, answers will come in time. I only ask that you tell no one what you saw, it would only confuse them." Reaper said.

She nodded again, and they walked out of the room. Reaper the closed the door and turned to Zero Two.

"Good night, Zero Two." He said.

"Good night, Reaper." She replied.

As Reaper walked away he called over his shoulder,

"Hey Zero Two! I know you set her up to do that." Reaper said.

She said nothing but gave him a coy smile before walking away leaving Reaper to wonder what else she had planned for him.

…

Death sat in the Shadow Realm on his throne. He had just sent the group of children that Reaper Alpha had sent him on their merry way. The poor children were so afraid of him that he had to call in another soul to keep them calm. They were swiftly sent to paradise for giving their lives to protect others. The soul that he called in, which they oddly called Nana even though there was no relation, was extremely happy to guide them to paradise. Perhaps it was someone who they knew before they died. As he sat back in his throne he felt two unusual souls. Focusing on them, Death recoiled in shock.

"This cannot be!"

But it was, both Havana and James's were located but they were alive. Death tried to contact them but to his fury, he was unable to. He needed a physical connection in order to reestablish a link to them.

"Who dares to take what is mine." Death growled and looked to see who had revived them. His rage grew when he saw that they were somehow now part Klaxosaur.

"That bitch, took them from me." Death seethed in fury.

" _What am I going to tell Reaper if he finds out, no, not if, when."_ Death thought.

There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to encounter each other. Fate had a way of doing that which Death did not want it to.

* * *

Not much to say here other than the usual. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	12. Chapter 12: Competition

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 12: Competition

It had been about two days since the incident between the boys and girls of Squad 13. Dr. Franxx had returned their FranXX earlier in the morning. It was an extremely interesting sight.

 _Flashback_

 _As Reaper 1's FranXX were loaded back into their docking bays, Reaper and his squad were doing their best not to outright laugh at Dr. Franxx's state. His hair was a mess, and his lab coat was covered in scuff marks. His face held a frazzled expression._

" _Did you get the, ah, issues fixed Dr. FranXX?" Reaper said still trying not to snicker at him._

" _Yes, although they were the most stubborn FranXX I have ever had to deal with." The Doctor replied sending a slight glare and the docked FranXX._

" _Excellent." Reaper said, and he and his squad walked out. As soon as they were out of earshot they started laughing._

" _That was priceless!" Cypress said, still laughing._

" _That's what he gets for trying to mess with our FranXX!" Owl said._

 _Reaper just chuckled, he had a feeling that whatever their master had done, Dr. Franxx hadn't been able to undo._

 _Flashback end_

Reaper was meditating at the lake. No Klaxosaurs had attacked today so he was taking the time given to meditate. He had been at it about two hours when his communicator went off. Opening his eyes and answering it, he found that it was Hachi.

"R-01, gather your squad and meet in the briefing in 10 minutes." Hachi said.

"Yes, commander." Reaper replied and Hachi ended the call.

Nine minutes later Reaper 1 had gathered in the briefing room and were waiting on Hachi.

"Why do you think that they wanted us here?" Raven asked Crow.

"They probably have a mission for us." Crow replied.'

"You are correct." Hachi said, walking through the door. Behind him came the light blond-haired boy from a few days ago, Nine Alpha.

"I believe that I mentioned to you a few days ago R-01, that we had a joint mission to do? Since your faulty FranXX have been returned to you, we can now start the mission." Alpha said. His eyes then landed on Owl.

"Why hello there." Alpha purred, walking up to Owl and putting a hand on her chin. Crow had to put his hand on Reaper's chest in order to prevent him from assaulting Alpha.

"What is a short, cute, thing like you doing with that barbarian?" Alpha asked.

Reaper and his squad's eyes widened. As much as they wanted to kill Alpha for insulting Reaper, he had made a very big mistake, he had called Owl short. Reaper could see the twitch starting in her eye and he and his squad took several big steps back. Hachi looked at them confused.

"What are you…" Hachi said before Raven interrupted him.

"Hachi, back up." Raven said and nodded to the now irate Owl.

Hachi's eyes widened. That was the same look Nana had when she was pissed, and it was not smart to be within striking distance when that happened. Hachi also wisely took several steps back.

"Thank you for the compliment but…" Owl said before summoning Queen and hitting him in the head with the butt of the scythe, knocking him to the ground. She then placed the tip at Alpha's neck, he could feel the utter cold that the blade was producing.

"…call me short again, and I will slit your throat. Are we clear?" she threatened.

He nodded, and she removed Queen from this throat.

"Feisty, I like it" Alpha said, shooting a grin at Reaper.

"Alpha." Hachi warned.

"Right, right. Be at these coordinates by 1200 hours the day after tomorrow. And try not to be late with those faulty FranXX of yours." Alpha said, handing Reaper a set of coordinates.

As Alpha was walking out the door he turned around and winked at Owl. "See you around beautiful." He then left.

The shadows within the room were dancing. Reaper's eyes were glowing a bright red and he was muttering several different ways of killing Alpha under his breath.

"Please tell me the rest of his squad have better attitudes." Crow asked.

"Unfortunately, not." Hachi replied.

Owl walked over to Reaper and gently squeezed his hand, breaking him out of his rage. Shaking his head, Reaper headed over to the console and inputted the coordinates given to him by the blond asshole. It showed them that the coordinates were about a hundred and sixty-one clicks away (about a 100 miles) but there was no visual.

"I wonder." Reaper said, and his hands began to fly across the keyboard.

"Reaper, what are you doing?" Cypress asked as she saw him access several Reaper Corps servers.

"Checking to see if the Shadow Gaze is still active. Due to the amount of time that has passed I kinda doubt it though." Reaper replied as he logged into yet another server.

A notification popped up asking if he wanted to link the Gaze to the Plantation, but he immediately told it no. Papa and the others did not need to have any of the information that Reaper Corps had. Reaper hit a few more keys and then said,

"I'll be damned, the network is still active."

The floor to ceiling projector came to life and showed a view of earth with several satellites that were coming online. Hachi's mouth had dropped in shock. Intel satellites, communication arrays, GPS satellites, the entire Reaper Network was coming back to life. The only thing that wasn't was the orbital defense network, but Reaper had expected that. Reaper Command had probably detonated every missile within the arsenal as a big "fuck you" to APE as Reaper HQ probably went out in a blaze of glory. Asset denial. APE did not need to get their hands on those missiles. The EMPs on some of the platforms are probably what caused the network to shut down.

Reaper and his squad's communicators beeped as they reconnect to the Reaper Network and a veritable flood of reports came across the monitor. Too fast for Hachi to follow. Reaper just shoved the reports aside to look at later. Calling up the GPS system he input the given coordinates and was rewarded with a nice view of the area. There was a massive structure in the area the same black and blue color that the Klaxosaurs were, as well as a sea of Klaxosaurs outside of it. A report popped up on the side of the screen estimating about 15,000 Klaxosaurs were in the area with more arriving.

Cypress whistled. "We are going to be in for one hell of a fight."

Reaper turned to his squad. "We'll deploy early tomorrow morning." He said. This was meet with groans from Snake and Raven.

"Quit whining you two. We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it. I'd like to get there before the 9's do and do some recon." Reaper said.

Reaper then turned back to the monitor and logged out of everything to ensure that no one could access the network except them and walked out. Once they left Hachi immediately tried to get back into the Reaper Network, APE would benefit from the amount of intel that those satellites contained. Unfortunately for him, he did not have Reaper's login, so he could not get back in.

…

 **Meanwhile**

 **Klaxosaur Territory**

 **Location: Unknown**

H was sleeping in her room when she heard a beep sound from her communicator, waking her up. When she saw that she had been reconnected to the Reaper Network, she immediately ran to the nearest computer, uncaring of her half-dressed state. She and J had safeguarded the network since command fell and she would be damned if APE got access to it now. Once she reached a computer she immediately logged in to find out who was accessing the network. When she saw it was Reaper, she paused.

"Reaper, what are you doing, love?" she asked herself.

She watched as he accessed the GPS program and pulled up the location for a sub base that the Princess had established. _"They must be having Reaper and the others assault the base."_ She thought. She then watched as Reaper closed everything he was accessing and logged out. She too then logged out and went to find the Princess.

H walked to the Princess's room and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, a blearily eyed Princess opened the door.

"What is it daughter? I'm trying to sleep." She asked.

"APE has sent Reaper and his squad to attack sub base 37." She said.

This caused the Princess's eyes to shoot open and give orders to her.

"Take about 15,000 Klaxosaurs with you and go as reinforcements. If you see him, do not engage. He is not ready yet daughter." She said, and H hung her head.

The Princess used one of her tentacles to lift H's head. "I know that you want to speak to him daughter, but he is not ready. He needs more time. I have no doubt that they will send them after other bases, and we need to use this opportunity to feed them information. To show them that humanity is in the wrong. Once he realizes that then you can go speak to him, alright?"

H nodded and walked down the hall to her room in order to get dress and ready to leave. The Princess stared at her retreating form _"I know you wish to be reunited with him daughter, but the time is not right. If you spoke to him now he would kill you on sight and I can't let that happen. You and J are too important to me."_ The Princess thought before returning to her room. She would send a drone to observe what was going to happen.

…

Reaper and his squad returned to the manor to inform Squad 13 of their departure the next morning. However, they were nowhere to be found. Glancing at his communicator, Reaper saw it was only 8 o'clock at night, surely, they had not gone to bed yet? Reaper then turned to Owl his eyes pleading.

She sighed, "Fine. You can use it."

"Yes." He cheered.

Out of shadow storage, Reaper pulled out a large airhorn and a bullhorn. Reaper had an evil grin on his face and his squad covered their ears as Reaper pushed the button. The sound of the airhorn ripped through the manor causing the furniture to shake and several shouts were heard before a "REAPER!" was heard from the female half of the manor. Reaper and his squad were laughing their asses off as Ichigo came barreling down the stairs in her nightgown, determined to kill Reaper for waking her up. Reaper just kept laughing as he jumped and stuck himself to the ceiling, out of her reach.

"REAPER! WHAT THE HELL?!" She shouted at him.

"Its… only…8…o'clock. You…should…not…be…sleeping…yet!" Reaper said as he struggled to breath from laughing so hard.

"What did you want?" Ikuno said. She had just gotten to sleep damn it.

"We wanted to inform you that we will be leaving early tomorrow for a mission. We expect to be gone for two to three days." Owl said for Reaper as he was still trying to recover his breath.

"Wait, your leaving?" Hiro asked.

"Just for a few days." Raven responded.

As Raven was saying this, Reaper had recovered his breath. Looking down, Reaper noticed something different about Hiro. He had two little blue horns on top of his head, his eyes also glowed blue for brief periods of time. Reaper narrowed his eyes, that was not there yesterday. He would ask when they returned from their mission with the 9's. Reaper then chuckled as he noticed Ichigo was still glaring at him.

"Alright, you guys can go back to bed now." Reaper said from his spot on the ceiling.

They all mumbled a goodnight and Ichigo shot him one last glare. Reaper then noticed Zero Two looking at him from the banister. Reaper made shadow horns on his head and nodded toward Hiro before glaring at her. Getting the meaning, Zero Two's eyes widened before shaking her head vigorously. He nodded at her to go but sent her a look that clearly said, "we are not done with this conversation."

…

At 0400 hours the next morning Reaper and his squad were in the docking bay preparing to leave, Nana was worried about their safety.

"Are you sure you want to leave this early? It's still full dark. You could leave at dawn and make it by sundown, and not risk running into any Klaxosaurs in the dark." She said.

Reaper turned and smiled at her. "We will be fine Nana. This is not the first time we have done a night run. Also, this will put us there at midday and give us time to scope out the area before the 9's get there tomorrow."

"Very well. You guys be careful, I want you guys to come back in one piece." She said. Although she would never say it to them, she considered Reaper and his squad like her children, much like she considers the parasites her children. She often worries about their wellbeing in situations like this.

"We will Nana, don't worry." Reaper said before climbing into Black Rose.

Later that day, Reaper and his squad reached the coordinates that they were given. They were just on the other side of a rise but were unable to climb to the top due to their FranXX's height.

"This is one of those times I wish we had more mobility." Reaper said, lamenting the fact they were unable to get the FranXX to kneel. Until it did.

Each of Reaper 1's FranXX got down on their stomachs and belly crawled toward the rise of the hill.

"Umm Reaper?" Owl asked.

"Again Owl, this is not me." Reaper said.

As they reached the rise of the hill, they could see the number of Klaxosaurs doubled. Shoving the mystery of the FranXX moving on their own aside, Reaper and his squad began to observe the enemy.

"The number has increased. They know that we are coming." Crow said.

"What are their types?" Reaper asked.

"Larval type Conrad classes for the most part. There are a few Moho classes hanging around as well as the odd Gutenberg class." Snake responded.

"Lotus, thin the herd. Silent shots. Aim for the Gutenberg classes, the less we have to deal with them later, the better." Reaper said,

Lotus summoned Deadshot and screwed on a silencer before taking aim at the Gutenberg classes.

"This is a trap, I hate walking into traps." Reaper growled.

A message popped up in front of Reaper. "Then don't." It said.

Assuming it was from Owl, Reaper responded. "Owl, you know we have to clear this base, backing out it's not an option."

"Umm, Reaper, I didn't say anything." Owl said.

Reaper was confused. If Owl did not send that then who did? A feed showing Black Rose's face appeared in front of him and winked at him before disappearing. Before Reaper could make a comment, Lotus banished Deadshot and said,

"I've done all I can. If I kill anymore we will be noticed."

"Alright fall back. We wait for the 9's now."

…

The next morning when Reaper and his squad crested the hill again they found the 9's and their FranXX waiting for them. The 9 Model is an intimidating looking FRANXX with a sleek silhouette. It has large and bulky shoulder and leg plates. Their face is expressionless, as if they're wearing a mask. A blue glow illuminates from their eyes. Like many other FRANXX, they're armed with an orange lance.

"Your late. I told you not to be late." Alpha said condescendingly.

Black Rose rolled her eyes. "We have been here for over 24 hours Alpha, if anyone is late, it's you." She said.

Alpha sighed. "You left so early that you arrived here a day before, tut tut. Get out of your FranXX so I can introduce you to my squad." Alpha said.

Reaper and his squad exited their FranXX. Not bothering to use the installed elevators they jumped down from the faceplates, landing perfectly on the ground.

Alpha narrowed his eyes when he saw Reaper land with Owl.

"It figures that you would be piloting with the barbarian. What is your FranXX's name?" Alpha asked Owl.

"Black Rose." She replied coldly.

"Such a dark name for a flower such as yourself but I suppose it fits the barbarian." Alpha said.

He did not notice that Reaper 1's FranXX faceplates had reactivated and were glaring down at the 9's. Reaper's hand was subtly twitching.

"Anyway, I know who all of you are, but you do not know who we are. This is Nine beta," he said pointing to a boy with light blue hair. "Nine Gamma," a boy with deep pink hair. "Nine Delta," a girl with light green hair who politely waved to the group. "the triplets Zeta, Theta, Eta," three identical girls with masks covering their mouths. "and Nine Epsilon." A boy with purple hair who nodded to the group. Of the Nines, only Delta and Epsilon acknowledged the group.

Looking over the mass of Klaxosaurs Alpha got an idea.

"Hey R-01, I have an idea." Alpha had a grin on his face. "Let's have a little competition, your squad VS mine. Whoever kills the most Klaxosaurs wins. Surely those crappy FranXX can at least handle that?"

Reaper's hand twitched.

…

 **Meanwhile**

10 miles away, there was an uninhabited section of desert. Nothing interesting was happening, until a mile of desert was suddenly obliterated. Small arcs of Shadow Energy continued to play about the area causing micro explosions whenever they contacted the sand.

…

 **Back with Reaper 1 and the 9's**

"Deal." Reaper said glaring at Alpha.

"Try to keep up." Beta said, as they entered their FranXX.

Reaper and his squad got back in their FranXX as the 9's raced down the hill and into the fray. For a moment, Reaper was silent.

"I want them all dead." He said quietly. Whenever Reaper was speaking quietly, it meant he was pissed beyond belief. "Release mode is authorized. If it moves, it dies."

A kill counter appeared on the side of their view space, one was the 9's kills and one was their own kill counts. As Reaper and his squad descended onto the battlefield, what followed could only be described as a blood bath.

…

 **Klaxosaur Territory**

 **Location: Unknown**

The Princess was staring at the screen showing the battle slack jawed. She knew that Reaper and his squad were powerful but seeing the whirlwind of death that he and his squad had turned into made her realize just how powerful they were.

"This is one of those times I wish they were Klaxosaurs." The Princess said to herself.

"If that were the case, Princess, humanity would have lost long ago." J said, walking in. He then looked at the screen and grunted. "Reaper's angry. I wonder what they said to piss him off?"

…

 **APE HQ**

Papa and the other members of APE were watching the battle between Reaper 1 and the Klaxosaurs in shock. Reaper 1 was completely obliterating the Klaxosaurs.

"They are going to become a serious threat." Papa mused, and the others agreed.

…

 **Back with Reaper 1 and the 9's**

When the dust settled, Reaper and his squad were covered in blue blood while the Nines looked in shock at the mounds of dead Klaxosaurs that surrounded them. Alpha then turned to Reaper with a smile on his face.

"So, barbarian, what was your kill count?" Alpha asked confident he did better than them.

"About 8,000 for each of us." Reaper said smugly.

If the M9's had facial expressions, Owl rather imagined that their jaws would have dropped.

Reaper could feel the fury rolling off of Alpha's FranXX. Unbidden, Black Rose walked up in Alpha's face.

"Don't underestimate my squad or our FranXX again, else you might regret it." Black Rose said.

She used her voice, but Owl did not say a word. Reaper could feel extreme concern coming from Owl through the link, but he sent her a mental equivalent of a hug to calm her down, although he was concerned as well. First Strelitiza, and now this? What did their master do?

Reaper then exited his FranXX and jumped to the ground before turning toward the structure.

"R-01, where the hell are you going?" Alpha asked.

"Looking for information." Was all Reaper said as he entered the building.

…

Two hours later, Reaper exited the structure with more questions than answers. In the computer he had found, which in itself had baffled him because as far as he knew the Klaxosaurs were nothing more than mindless beasts and did not possess technology, he found several references to the Klaxo-sapians he had read about in the consoles in Plantation 13 but still had no solid facts about them other than that they predated humanity by millions of years. He also found references to something called saurification, which was apparently what Hiro was going through. Essentially, due to the high number of YBC he had been exposed to, the boy was becoming part Klaxosaur, similar to Zero Two, which explained where the horns had come from. Reaper knew he had to tread carefully now. It was only a matter of time before Dr. Franxx saw what was happening and tried to take Hiro away for testing. If that happened, however, Reaper and his squad would move heaven and earth to get that boy back. They were not subjects to be experimented on, they were children. Ideally, they would not even be fighting right now but that is the way the world works at the moment. Reaper had also come across some information on their FranXX, but the intel was incomplete. It looked like he was going to have to pay the Doctor's office a little visit to find out what was going on.

As Reaper exited the structure, he saw that his squad had gotten bored, and were having mock battles against each other. The 9's had apparently already left so Reaper was free to tell them what he had learned.

"I'm back!" Reaper shouted, getting his squad's attention.

"Welcome back Reaper, learn anything of interest?" Snake asked.

Reaper nodded. It had looked like the Nine's had left but Reaper wanted to make sure.

"Did the Nines already leave?"

"Yeah, they left after the first 20 minutes. They didn't want to stand around and wait on you, so they left, telling us that we needed to destroy the base when we left." Cypress said.

Cypress was glad that Reaper was inside getting information. During the 20 minutes that the Nines were still here, Alpha did nothing but attempt to flirt with Owl and talk down about Reaper. It was only after Owl had frozen his mouth shut and Crow threatened to electrocute him that they finally stopped and left. She knew that, had Reaper been there, Alpha would have been nothing more than a bloody smear on the ground.

Reaper then told them what he had learned. While they were surprised that Reaper noticed that Hiro was already undergoing the saurification process they were not surprised that it was happening, given who he was piloting with. They also expressed shock at the fact that the Klaxo-sapians predated humanity. With what they just learned it was possible that the Klaxosaurs they were fighting used to be sentient, although they were still in the dark as to what caused them to devolve in to the monsters they were today.

As Reaper and his squad headed back to their FranXX Raven remembered something.

"Wait, we still need to destroy the base." She said.

"Already taken care of." Reaper said.

The air suddenly hummed with power before the base was consumed by shadow and exploded causing Reaper and his squad's cloaks to whip wildly in front of them.

"I love shadow bombs." Was Reapers only comment as they left.

…

Reaper and his squad were exhausted when they returned to Plantation 13. Even though the Plantation was closer than before, when they left the sub-base at noon it was almost 1900 hours when they returned. Half a day of fighting on top of another half day of travel on top of four days without sleep meant that Reaper was about to collapse, but he still had a few things to do. As they exited their FranXX, Nana took one look at Reaper and told them to go to the birdcage and get some sleep, he could do the required paperwork tomorrow. Reaper groaned, the dreaded paperwork. Apparently, not even going forward in time got him out of filling out forms and reports for missions. When they arrived back at the birdcage they were greeted by Squad 13 and asked how their mission went.

While that was happening, Reaper was surprised when Zero Two pulled him into the nearby hallway and gave him a hug and began to check him for injuries. While Reaper knew that Zero Two considered him a friend, he didn't know that she had this level of care for him, he thought it reserved only for Hiro.

Once she had determined he was uninjured he said.

"Zero Two can you go get Hiro for me I need to speak to the both of you."

"Why do you need to speak to Darling?" She asked.

"Horns." Was his reply and she nodded and went to get Hiro.

She returned moments later with Hiro in tow. Reaper could see that his horns had grown but still were not visible if you didn't know what you were looking for.

"You wanted to speak to me Reaper?" Hiro asked.

Reaper lunged forward and pushed Hiro's hair up before he could stop him, allowing him to see the little blue horns growing out of his forehead. Reaper then dropped his hand and his hair hid the horns once more.

"Hiro, do you know that is happening to you?" Reaper asked.

"Yes, I am becoming like Zero Two, becoming part Klaxosaur." Hiro replied.

"Good. Then, do you know what will happen when Dr. Franxx finds out?"

"No."

"I will tell you. He will do the same to you that he did to Zero Two." Reaper said, causing Zero Two to cling to Hiro's arm.

Hiro's eyes glowed blue as rage filled them. He remembered what they put Zero Two through and would be damned if they did the same to him.

"My squad and I will not allow this to happen. We will keep the Doctor from finding out for as long as we can but eventually he will find out. Hold out your right hands." Reaper said.

When they did, Reaper touched their palms and their hands were shrouded in shadow. When he withdrew his fingers the Japanese kanji for protection **戍** was burned into their palms. It then disappeared.

"What was that?" Zero Two asked.

"An ancient symbol, by your standards, from the Japanese culture. It's called a kanji, that one in particular was the kanji for protection. Whenever Dr. Franxx comes after you press two fingers into your palm where the kanji appeared. It will activate a shadow shield which will prevent anyone from capturing you. When you use it immediately come find my squad and we will get you out, if we are not around, go to Strelitiza, she will protect you until you we return." Reaper said.

"How can Strelitiza help us? She needs us to pilot her, she can't move on her own." Hiro said.

Reaper didn't respond, instead he just smiled and told Hiro he could go. As Hiro walked away, Reaper said to Zero Two,

"Zero Two, I need you to be our eyes and ears. We can't be with you all the time, so it is up to you to protect him."

"I will Reaper, but what about the others? Wont they notice too?" she said.

"Squad 13 won't hurt him, they might be upset by the fact that he is changing but they wouldn't dare hurt him." Reaper responded.

"Alright, I will take care of Darling." she responded with determination in her eyes.

"Good." Reaper said.

His eyes suddenly closed as he collapsed. *Thump*

"Reaper? Reaper!" Zero Two said shaking him.

Owl then came skidding around the corner Queen drawn. When she saw Reaper passed out on the floor, she banished Queen and walked over putting her hand on his forehead.

"Yup, he's gone. Zero Two can you help me carry him to his room?" Owl asked as she supported his left side.

Zero Two nodded and supported his right as they carried him to his room. As they entered his room Zero Two's eyes widened in shock, the walls were painted a deep purple except for one wall. The wall was a mural of a Sakura tree in full bloom, the tree was easily a hundred feet in diameter. The mural caught the leaves floating through the air and the tree appeared to be on top of a hill. In the background there was a futuristic looking city with bright lights and people walking by.

"So, he finally got it finished." Owl said looking at the mural.

"It's beautiful." Zero Two whispered in awe.

As they placed Reaper on the bed Zero Two noticed something else, the bed looked like it had not been slept in.

"Does Reaper not sleep?" Zero Two asked Owl.

Owl sighed "No, sleep is a rare thing for Reaper since Havana died. The only time he sleeps is when I pester him enough to sleep or, like earlier, his body shuts down due to exhaustion, forcing him to sleep. Most times he gets his rest during his meditations which is part of the reason that he does it so much. He is constantly plagued by nightmares of Havana's death when he sleeps, so he usually doesn't. If someone stays with him, he usually sleeps a bit easier, so I will stay with him for the night, you can go Zero Two." Owl said and pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and held Reaper's hand as he began to twitch.

Zero Two nodded and left. Owl turned to Reaper and brushed a stray hair out of his face.

"Baka." She said with a small smile on her face.

…

It was midnight when Zero Two stopped by to check on Owl. She saw that she had fallen asleep in the chair next to Reaper. So, Zero Two picked her up can carried her back to her room and put her in bed. Owl's room was painted a forest green with an ice blue carpeted floor. Returning to Reaper's room, Zero Two took Owl's place and sat with Reaper for the rest of the night, keeping the nightmares Reaper often had a bay.

* * *

 **A/N:** Done. I do believe that Reaper and Alpha don't get along, but Delta and Epsilon might be an exception. If you haven't read it yet, I'd recommend reading Darling in the FranXX: Homecoming by CulpableGlint, it is a very well written story and he does an excellent job of storytelling. Anyway, as always, comments and reviews are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	13. Chapter 13: What is Love

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 13: What Is Love?

I apologize for the short chapter, it's been a busy week for me. Happy Halloween!

* * *

"Hey guys! They're here!" Zorome shouted.

Reaper 1 heard Squad 13 rush to the foyer and decided to figure out what was going on. Entering the main part of the manor from their wing, they found Squad 13 staring at a small pile of presents by the front door. Squad 13 immediately began to tear into them.

"What's all this?" Snake asked.

"Once a year, we can send letters to Papa asking for one thing, and today we received them." Ichigo said, as the others opened their presents.

Looking around, Reaper saw that Zorome got a new ball, Ikuno got a new set of books, which Reaper saw that Snake was itching to go look through, Mitsuru got a fancy ballpoint pen, Kokoro got a new makeup kit, Futoshi got a variety of new foods, Goro got a set of fishing rods, Miku got a new type of perfume, Ichigo got a stuffed animal rabbit, and Hiro got some type of bird book.

" _It's like Christmas, a few weeks early though."_ Reaper thought.

Using the weather, they had guesstimated that it was somewhere in November although the heat from the desert made it a bit difficult to determine the month.

Reaper and his squad just smiled with amusement as they watched Squad 13 play with their new things. They then turned and headed back to their section of the manor so not to disturb 13, although Reaper had to drag Snake away, so he would leave Ikuno and her new books alone.

Later, Squad 13 heard a large thump sound from the porch of the manor. Poking her head out Ikuno looked down to see that there were seven black presents on their porch. Looking at one of the tags, she could barely read the handwriting.

" _Reaper, perhaps?"_ Ikuno thought. _"It must be. All our presents have already come, though whoever sent these needs to work on their penmanship."_

"What is it Ikuno?" Ichigo asked.

"Presents for Reaper 1, although they look quite menacing." She replied, showing Ichigo what was outside the door.

They brought the presents in the house and were surprised at the heavy weight of them.

"Hey Reaper! You guys got something!" Ichigo called to Reaper 1's wing.

A few minutes later Reaper 1 emerged with confused expressions on their faces.

"What are you talking about Ichigo?" Reaper asked.

Ichigo showed them where they had placed the presents. As soon as Reaper saw the handwriting on one of the presents, he chuckled.

"My, my, master, since when did you play Santa." Reaper said as he began to hand out the gifts.

"Whoever sent those to you has very poor handwriting." Ikuno said.

"That's not poor handwriting, that cursive." Cypress said examining the tag on her new set of weights.

"Cursive?" Ichigo asked.

"Cursive is a fancy way of writing. It used to be used for signatures." Snake said. He had gotten a new set of books but they were more technical in nature than Ikuno's.

Raven had gotten a set of earrings that she wanted before they were frozen, Crow had gotten a diamond neckless which he promptly gave to Raven which caused the girl to just about die of joy, and Owl had gotten an expensive perfume which reminded her of James.

Reaper, however, got something that was very precious to him. It was a photo of the squad. It was the last time that the squad had been whole, they had been given leave and they decided to go to the beach. The photo was of them on the sand with the city and the ocean in the background.

Ikuno and Ichigo looked over Reaper's shoulder to see what he had gotten.

"Who is that?" Ikuno asked, pointing to a woman with long black hair and royal purple eyes. "She is quite pretty."

"Havana, R-07." Reaper said.

Ichigo and Ikuno looked confused but carried on.

"And that? Who is he?" Ichigo said pointing to a man with short brown hair and deep green eyes.

"James, R-08" Owl said looking at the photo.

"Are they a part of your squad?" Ikuno asked.

"They were." Raven said sadly.

"Were? What happened to them?" Ichigo asked.

"They are no longer with us." Crow said quietly.

Ikuno and Ichigo covered their mouths in shock when they realized what that statement meant.

"Oh my Papa. I'm so sorry." Ichigo whispered in horror.

Reaper just sighed and placed the photo in his cloak. There was a message from their master attached to it. "I thought you might want this back." It read.

Looking at the last present, Reaper tilted his head in confusion. What did master want to give her?

"Ichigo, can you go get Zero Two for me please. This last one is for her." Reaper said.

Ichigo looked confused but did as he asked and returned with Zero Two a few minutes later.

"Yes Reaper?" she asked.

"This is for you." He said handing the present to her.

When she opened it her eyes widened in shock. It was a book titled The Beast and The Prince, a picture book by the looks of it. Zero Two squealed and rushed off, book pressed tightly to her chest. The group looked at each other before shrugging. Reaper then left to put the photo in his bedroom, glad that his master was able to recreate the photo.

…

That evening, Goro was staring out the window at Ichigo lost in thought. He was so lost in thought that he never heard Reaper approach until he touched his shoulder causing Goro to jump.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you." Reaper said.

"It's fine Reaper, just lost in thought." Goro said turning back to the window.

Reaper stood beside him for a moment before sighing.

"Alright Goro, what's biting you?"

"Something is biting me?" Goro asked confused, he didn't feel anything.

Reaper laughed. "It's a figure of speech. I'm asking what is bothering you."

Goro sighed. "Nothing major, I'm just trying to figure out what it is I'm feeling for Ichigo is all."

"Describe it. Perhaps I can help."

"I feel drawn to her. When she is happy, I'm happy, when she is sad, I feel like I should cheer her up. I know everything about her, I know what makes her laugh, what makes her cry, everything. I feel like she is special to me."

Reaper smiled. "That feeling, my boy, is called love."

"Love? But what does it mean to love somebody?"

"To love someone is to take their hopes and dreams and care for them as if they were your own. To be willing to do anything to keep them smiling. To look at that person and be able to tell them anything, and not have to hide from them. That is love."

Goro looked at him in shock.

"You have found something very precious, don't let it get away." Reaper said, before turning and walking away.

…

The next morning, the Klaxosaur alarm went off bright and early and everyone raced to the briefing room.

"We've detected a Gutenberg class Klaxosaur at a distance of 48 clicks (about 30 miles)." Hachi said.

"It's moving slow but judging from its course, we predict that it will make contact with the plantation. We do not want a repeat of the last attack, as such, we are sending you out early in order to prevent it from getting anywhere near the plantation. Due to the distance, we are loading your FranXX with extra fuel." Nana said.

"It's too far away for our cameras to tell what type of Klaxosaur it is so you are going in blind. Also unusual weather has been reported in the area, make sure that your FranXX are not hit by lightning." Hachi said.

…

As Squad 13 and Reaper 1 approached the target area, all they saw was a massive thundercloud.

"Where the hell is it?" Zorome asked.

Black Rose's eyes were searching the clouds before noticing several tentacles on the ground.

"It's hiding in the storm." She said.

There was a loud screech and the storm clouds parted, revealing the Klaxosaur.

"Seriously, a Jellyfish?" Reaper sighed out annoyed, Jellyfish were a pain in the ass to kill.

"Argentea, going in." Zorome said before unsheathing Argentea's claws and racing toward the Klaxosaur.

"Don't you idiot!" Lotus shouted but it was too late.

Argentea dodged the tentacles with ease before jumping to strike the core at the bottom of the Klaxosaur. She struck the outside of the Klaxosaur but quickly got stuck as the outside of the Klaxosaur was membrane like. She was then brought out to the side of the Klaxosaur where it started to absorb her.

"Damn it! This is why you don't rush into things you idiot!" Reaper said as he summoned Nightmare.

This was going to be difficult. He had to throw Nightmare at a high enough speed as to slice through the membrane containing Argentea but at the same time not hit her. Just as Reaper was about to toss it. Delphinium leaped forward, punching Argentea and freeing her. Unfortunately, she was now caught within the membrane. The Klaxosaur began to swell up.

"Take cover!" Snake said before the Klaxosaur exploded.

…

" _Owwwww."_ Black Rose said as she woke up.

Getting up, she saw that the blast had thrown her a good half mile from the detonation site. Looking at the Klaxosaur, she saw, unsurprisingly, that it was still moving toward the plantation. Near the core, she could see Delphinium suspended, but she was inactive. Black Rose remembered seeing something deploy from Delphinium before the Klaxosaur detonated.

" _Hey, Reaper, Owl, you awake up there?"_ she said tapping her head.

She got a groan from Reaper as a response and she was forced to her knees as Rampage mode activated. She transformed into a black lion with red marks running down her body. Black Rose knew her pilots could take quite the beating before getting knocked out but after getting thrown half a mile and being slammed into the ground, she knew her pilots would be out cold for a while, and probably have a concussion.

Looking to her left, she saw that Lotus and Digitalis had also changed into their Rampage forms as well. Lotus had a sleeker body than she did and had white lines running down her body while Digitalis was bulkier with blue lines on her body.

" _You two ok?"_ Black Rose said, but since she was in Rampage form all that came out were a series of growls and short barks.

" _Yeah, but these two are out cold."_ Digitalis said tossing her head.

" _Careful Digitalis, we don't want to hurt them anymore than they already are."_ Lotus said.

" _Relax, they are strapped in."_ she replied.

" _Focus you two."_ Black Rose said. _"Lotus, there was something ejected from Delphinium before the Jellyfish exploded, it was orange and about the size of a human, find it. Digitalis, let's check on the rest of Squad 13."_

" _Yes, ma'am."_ They replied and went to do their assigned tasks.

As Black Rose was checking on Strelitiza, she began to wake up. Black Rose backed off as not to scare them.

"Ugh, my head." Strelitiza complained. "Are you alright Darling?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hiro replied, "Where is Delphinium and Reaper 1?"

Looking around, Hiro saw that there were three Rampage FranXX running around, one was standing next to them, another one was sniffing Chlorophytum, and a third was several miles away digging for something.

Strelitiza then turned around and saw, to Hiro's horror, the Klaxosaur was still alive and was slowly drifting toward the plantation, Delphinium stuck inside next to the core.

"Ichigo, Goro." Hiro said in shock.

A Rampage FranXX with white lines on its body then walked up to Strelitiza with an orange thing in its mouth. It then gently placed it at Strelitiza's feet and walked off. Looking at the orange thing, Hiro realized that it was a deployment pod from a FranXX.

"Ichigo." Hiro said picking up the pod.

"….Reaper…..13….hear….?" Nana's voice came over the comms, although she was breaking up very badly.

"Nana?" Hiro said.

"Oh….Papa! What….there? Where….Reaper 1?" she said.

"Nana, we can barely hear you." Argentea said. She had gotten up and drawn her claws at the sight of the Rampage FranXX.

"Squad….fall….plantation…..retrieve…..later." Hachi said.

"You heard him, retreat." Hiro said to the others.

"Wait, what about Reaper 1? Where are they?" Genista said.

"Don't worry about them, we can retrieve them later." Mitsuru said.

Squad 13 retreated to the plantation, leaving the three Rampage FranXX behind.

…

Reaper's head was throbbing as he awoke.

"Owww." Reaper said holding his head.

When he removed his hands, they were covered in blood. Reaper grimaced. Great, head wound. Looking down at Owl, he saw that she was covered in small cuts but otherwise she was unharmed. She was also just starting to wake up.

"Ugh. Reaper are you alright?" Owl asked.

"I've been better." He replied.

This caused Owl to whip her head around and look at him. Reaper had blood running down the side of his face causing him to have to close one eye to keep the blood out.

"Head wound and a slight concussion." Reaper said.

"Reaper." Owl said, concerned.

"I'll live until we complete the mission." He said.

He then opened the comms.

"Squad, damage report."

"I'm fine but I think Crow hurt his leg." Raven said.

"I can move my leg, but it really hurts, a bend perhaps but not a break." Crow said.

"I've got a slash across my abdomen, but Snake is far worse." Cypress explained.

"Snake." Reaper said.

"The FranXX must have landed on her arm wrong." He said, and Reaper could hear the pain in his voice. "I can't move it, and it hurts too much to try. Definitely broken."

"Alright, try not to move it too much. Owl, let's see where we landed." Reaper said.

Reactivating Black Rose, they saw that they were about 10 miles behind the slowly drifting Klaxosaur. Reaper could see that Delphinium was inside the fuel source of the Klaxosaur and was deactivated. Reaper could see a hole where something had been dug out of the ground a few miles in front of them.

"Goro must have ejected Ichigo just before he was absorbed. The damn fool." Reaper said.

" _God damnit Goro. Of all the things to take literally from what I said yesterday, you chose that?"_ Reaper thought.

"What do you want us to do Reaper?" Lotus asked.

"From the looks of it Squad 13 was ordered to retreat, we were still unconscious at the time, so they were probably told to leave us behind. We need to buy them time to get back out here. We are going to do Hit and Run attacks to draw the Klaxosaur's attention from the plantation and on to us. Digitalis, I want you to stay back. With Snake's broken arm, you're not going to be doing him any favors by trying to attack with us. Take it slow and use your minigun to lay on some damage."

"Yes, sir." Digitalis said.

"You have your orders, let's go." Reaper said, and Lotus and Black Rose dashed off to attack the Klaxosaur.

…

Lotus and Black Rose had just completed their third attack when Squad 13 came within comms range.

"Reaper?" Hiro said in shock.

Black Rose and Lotus cut off doing another run, in favor of rendezvousing with Squad 13 while Digitalis kept the Klaxosaur's attention.

"Thank Papa you guys are alright." Ichigo said over the comms.

"A few injuries that need to be looked at sooner rather than later but otherwise we're fine." Reaper said.

Well, he said he was fine, but he really wasn't. The amount of blood running down his face had not stopped and he was getting lightheaded.

"What's the plan? And why is Ichigo in your hand Strelitiza?" Lotus asked.

"The plan is to get Ichigo into the Klaxosaur via the exhaust vent on the Klaxosaur's head. She will then kill the Klaxosaur from the inside out." Mitsuru said.

"That is very dangerous Ichigo, you are going to have to swim through the fuel source of the Klaxosaur in order to reach him, do you even know if your suit can withstand it? Also, you are going to have to swim through the minefield of live ammunition that Digitalis has pumped into the Klaxosaur." Lotus said.

"I'll be fine." Ichigo said determined.

"Very well. Digitalis! Break off! 13 has a plan." Reaper said.

Digitalis stopped firing and banished her minigun. Snake then grasped his arm in pain. His grunt of pain could be heard across the comms. Black Rose suddenly stumbled.

"Reaper?" Strelitiza asked.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get treated, so get going." Reaper said, he was getting really lightheaded now. "I'm not going to be able to hold on for much longer, go!"

Strelitiza ran forward and Genista and Chlorophytum interlocked their hands just in front of her. Just as she was about to hit them, Strelitiza jumped and Genista and Chlorophytum threw her up toward the top of the Klaxosaur's head. Halfway there, she activated her boosters and she flew up to the exhaust vent and shoved Ichigo inside. She then jumped off and landed beside Black Rose. There was a few minutes of silence as Ichigo swam to Delphinium.

"Ichigo, Goro, respond." Hiro said, and silence was heard.

Then the Klaxosaur shrieked and they soon heard Goro's voice.

"Guys get the hell away! Its gonna blow!"

The heavens were then torn asunder as the Klaxosaur exploded like a massive firework, and given what they are, the description was accurate.

"Alright everyone, lets head back." Delphinium said looking at Reaper 1.

…

Reaper was fighting for consciousness by tooth and nail as they entered the hanger. Nana was standing by their storage docks waiting for them. They had just finished docking when the damage they had taken caught up to them. Reaper passed out due to blood loss at his console while Owl fell unconscious due to exhaustion. Both Cypress and Crow passed out due to the pain their injuries caused. Only Crow and Raven were relatively unaffected by the battle.

Nana entered Black Rose, ready to give Reaper a tongue lashing for disappearing. The words however, died on her lips as she beheld his state.

"MEDIC!" she shouted, and two medical officers came rushing in out of nowhere.

They quickly ran out again and soon returned with more medical officers and several stretchers. They quickly split off to check the other FranXX. The two that went to check on Crow and Raven quickly returned to Black Rose since Crow and Raven were mostly fine. As Squad 13 approached, the medical officers were loading Reaper and Owl on to stretchers while another two were doing the same for Snake and Cypress.

"They were fighting in that condition?" Kokoro said horrified.

"Idiots." Ichigo muttered although concern was showing on her face.

…

Squad 13 was waiting outside the medical ward waiting for Nana. She had gone in with the medical officers about two hours ago and had yet to emerge. At that moment, Nana exited the medical ward.

"Well?" Zero Two asked, she was worried for Reaper and the others but was doing her best to show disinterest.

"Well they are still alive. Reaper is suffering from a concussion, a large head wound, and blood loss. Owl just passed out from exhaustion. Cypress had an inch-deep gouge across her abdomen, and Snake has a broken arm. Raven is perfectly fine, and Crow has a bent leg."

"Are they awake? Can we see them?" Goro asked, it was his fault that they were in that condition after all.

"All except for Reaper and Owl. Those two are still unconscious." Nana said, and Squad 13 entered the room.

"Hey guys." Snake said as 13 entered.

"Goro, wipe that look off your face. It's not your fault, we've been through worse." Raven said from beside Crow's bed.

Ikuno walked over to Snakes bed before she slapped him. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Trying to keep you alive." Snake said with a smile on his face.

"Idiot!" she huffed and sat next to him.

Crow smiled, glad to see the two bookworms getting along.

"Can I get you anything Cypress?" Futoshi asked.

"Yeah, you got a sandwich on you? I hate hospital food, tastes terrible." Cypress replied.

While the others were chatting with those four, Zero Two, Hiro and Ichigo walked over to the curtained off beds which housed Reaper and Owl. Pushing aside the curtain around Reaper's bed they could see the cut along Reaper's forehead that had been stitched shut.

"I'm sorry Reaper." Ichigo said, tears gathering in her eyes.

A hand reached up and wiped away the tears. Following the hand Ichigo realized that Owl was the one who did it.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Ichigo. You are not the one who hurt us, the Klaxosaur did. You were protecting your squad, just as Reaper protects us. Sometimes that results in him getting hurt, but we know that any damage he takes was so that we didn't get hurt worse. I have no doubt that, when he wakes up, he is going to tear into Zorome for making such a dumbass move, especially against a Jellyfish."

"Jellyfish?" Zero Two asked.

Owl nodded. "We call that Klaxosaur a Jellyfish, due to the fact it sort of looks like one. Jellyfish are suicide bombers, had it gotten close to the plantation, it would have rushed forward and exploded itself. Killing itself but also annihilating the plantation. It is an extremely effective siege weapon."

"You speak from experience?" Goro said, he had stuck his head around the curtain looking for Ichigo when she had disappeared and heard the explanation.

Owl nodded again. "We never actually experienced it ourselves, but we saw the result. A city, larger than the one you found us in, vaporized. Nothing left but a sheet of glass, the defending Reaper Squadron, obliterated along with the city. So many lives lost."

Goro put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Come on you two, the nurse has ordered us out." He said.

Ichigo turned and walked out without a word, her head down. Zero Two bid Owl a good night and left as well.

"Don't worry you two, with Reaper's regeneration, he will be out of here tomorrow morning." Owl muttered and went back to sleep.

…

True to Owls words, the next morning, they were released from medical and returned to the Birdcage. Both squads were laughing at the scene before them. Reaper, Harvester in hand, was chasing Zorome about the yard in front of the manor while Zorome ran away screaming.

"Get back here Zorome! I'm gonna beat the shit out of you!" Reaper shouted.

"I said I'm sorry!" Zorome shouted back.

"Sorry doesn't cut it! You are going to learn the hard way to never make such an idiotic move again!"

"Would you guys quit laughing and help me!"

"Nope. You went in without learning about your enemy and put your partner in danger. You deserve what you are going to get." Snake said with a laugh.

"Get back here!" Reaper shouted swinging Harvester.

"AHHH!"

 **A/N:** Oh Zorome, will you never learn? A brief explanation is now necessary. Yes, the FranXX are sentient. Death did some work and brought the Klaxosaurs within the FranXX to life. I will try my best to make it obvious when the FranXX are talking and when it is the character's thoughts. Don't worry, Reaper and his squad will find out they truly are sentient soon enough. Anyway, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	14. Chapter 14: Havana

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 14: Havana

Trigger warning: There are mentions of self harm in this chapter.

Edited for spelling and for a song change, credit to Gremory6.

* * *

 **APE HQ**

"My, how intriguing." An APE said.

In the background there were recordings of Squad 13's missions playing.

"It's so strange." Said another.

"Regardless of how they do it, they are linking up in ways that other squads cannot. Does this mean that the imbalances caused by the individualized FranXX can give a unique advantage to the squad as a whole?" Papa asked.

"But that is a double-edged sword." One said. "The future we at APE exult is one of calmness and uniformity. Outliers such as themselves are an issue that needs to be dealt with."

"And then there is Reaper 1." The Vice Chairman said, and the feeds then changed to images of Reaper's exploits.

"With a brutality that is unmatched, they are the perfect squad, even out doing the Nines in terms of total kill count. What I would give for an army of them." Papa said.

"But they are a threat. They possess knowledge of times long forgotten and have gifts that are as deadly as they are helpful. They are out of our control and have a master of their own besides us." An APE said.

"I think it is high time we moved them on to the next stage, they are more than ready."

"To that area you mean? We have detected increased Klaxosaur activity beneath the Gran Crevasse. It is Squad 13's duty to bring Code 002 there safe and sound. Reaper 1 arriving as well is just a bonus. Their brutality will be necessary for the coming battle." Papa said.

"The plan is already in motion. As we speak, Plantation 13 is enroute to the Garden. They will undergo maintenance as soon as they arrive." An APE said.

"Before that, why don't we award them something."

"You mean…reward the children?"

"Awards have been the most common way to inspire soldiers since ancient times. Since they are being raised in such a bygone way, and are living with walking relics, it may prove most effective with them."

"Ah, that is an interesting idea. I shall allow it." Papa said.

…

 **Plantation 13**

As the squads returned from another successful sortie, they found Nana waiting for them.

"Children!" she shouted. "Gather in the living room in 10 minutes. I bring good news."

10 minutes later Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were in the living room wondering what was going on.

"*ahem* Tomorrow, all of you are to dress in your formal attire and gather in front of the manor at 0900 hours. Reaper 1 that includes you as well, we will send you some formal attire for you to wear." Nana said.

"No need, we already have a set of formal attire to wear." Reaper said, and Nana nodded.

"What's going on?" Ichigo said.

"Papa values what you have achieved in battle so far very highly. As such, Papa has decided to reward you. You will be going to the Inner City to receive medals from the mayor." Nana said

"The City!" Zorome said.

"The ceremony will be held tomorrow at the Plantation Parliament HQ." Nana said, she then dismissed them and walked out.

"YAHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zorome shouted.

"My ears! Would you knock it off!" Miku shouted, which sparked another one of their arguments.

Reaper nudged Hiro. "What is he so happy about?"

"Zorome has been trying to get into the city since we got here. It's his dream to grow up and be declared an adult and to be given the injection." Hiro explained.

Reaper just shook his head. "That boy has so much to learn."

Hiro looked at him confused before shrugging and went back to quietly kissing Zero Two. The two had grown quite close to each other after Hiro regained his memories. Hiro's horns were now quite visible, and Squad 13 had, surprisingly, accepted the lie that it was a side effect of riding with Zero Two.

" _Damn it. This derails my plans. Oh well, I'll just have to do a shorter session."_ Reaper thought, thinking about what the next day was.

…

The next morning, as Squad 13 exited the manor, their mouths dropped in shock. Reaper and his squad were dressed in blinding white uniforms. Gone were the black cloaks they wore, instead, they wore a white dress shirt with gold buttons and white dress pants. For shoes, they wore black dress shoes that were spit shined until you could see your reflection in them. There was not a speck of dirt on their uniforms and each piece fit perfectly, not a stitch of extra fabric, so they almost seemed form fitting. On their shoulders stood their rank. Reaper was a Colonel, Owl and Crow where Lieutenant Colonels, Cypress was a Major, Snake was a First Lieutenant and Raven was a Second Lieutenant.

"What do you guys think?" Reaper asked.

"It's odd not seeing you guys in all black, I will admit." Ikuno said while staring at Snake.

"Jeez, did you guys have to show us up?" Zorome said, Reaper 1's crisp white uniforms made theirs look dirty.

Just then Nana walked up. She expressed shock at Reaper 1's immaculate uniforms and ranks. _"He's a Colonel?!"_ Nana thought, before shaking her head and addressing the group.

"Alright children, and Reaper 1, we will be heading out now. Zero Two, while we are gone, you will undergo the usually tests."

" _The usual tests?"_ Reaper thought, he hoped that it wasn't the torture that he had read about in her files.

"I hate those tests. I always feel lousy after I take them. Besides, I'm in great shape right now. So, I'll pass on those tests for a while." Zero Two said and walked back into the manor.

" _I don't trust them not to do something."_ Reaper thought. He subtly put a shadow barrier around the manor, hopefully she would stay inside. If anyone attempted to enter the manor with malicious intent, they would be repelled. If they tried to enter more than three times, they would be knocked out.

…

As they entered the city, the members of Squad 13 were looking about in awe. Reaper 1 was unaffected. So much grandeur in a place that would never be seen except by those who lived there, what a waste. Reaper did notice however, that they were kept in a contained environment at all times. Not once did they breathe the air that flowed through the city. Also, to Reaper and his squad the city felt…dead. They saw no people, no cars, no type of movement what so ever. If this is what Papa considered the lap of luxury, Reaper and his squad wanted no part of it.

…

"You are the first children to be welcomed here." The mayor said, he was a man that wore a form fitting uniform and had a white mask over his head, covering everything except his mouth. "This is truly a great honor. I hope you consider this day a source of pride for a very long time, live up to the honor bestowed upon you, and make even further contributions to this plantation."

The mayor gave medals to each member of Squad 13. He then turned to Reaper 1 and addressed them personally.

"Thank you, Reaper 1, for your continued protection of this plantation. Your choice to continue fighting despite begin able to join us shows that you have great courage. I am honored to meet you all." The mayor said.

The mayor the pulled out a special case with pin on medals in it. He pinned the medals next to the others that Reaper and his squad sported. He then nodded to them stepped back and addressed the group again.

"Papa thanks you for your loyalty and service. Continue to fight for this plantation and this war will be over soon." The mayor said.

He then nodded to Nana and Hachi, who had joined them earlier, and then left.

"Alright children let's go." Nana said.

"What? That's it?" Zorome said.

"I was sure there would be a feast." Futoshi muttered.

"You are just fine without one." Ikuno said.

"Hey, since we have the chance, why don't we walk back?" Miku said, and the other girls agreed.

"It wasn't that far. We can walk, right, Nana?" Ichigo said.

Looking at the girls faces, Nana just couldn't say no.

"Oh, alright." She said.

As they walked, Squad 13's heads were on a constant swivel. Reaper and his squad were walking in front of them, acting as an escort.

"This is great. When we become adults, we will be able to live here too, right?" Zorome said.

"For some reason, I just can't picture us 'becoming adults' though." Ichigo said.

"Same here." Futoshi said.

"Hey Reaper, the mayor said that you were given a choice. What was he talking about?" Ikuno said, as Zorome continued to argue with the others about the likelihood of them becoming adults.

"When we arrived, we were given the choice to keep fighting or come here and live for eternity. We chose to fight." Raven said.

"What?! Why would you choose to fight instead of staying here?" Zorome said.

"Because this is not paradise." Reaper said. "To us, paradise is being able to live on the surface and not having others fight for us. To be able to live in a world where war is a word that doesn't exist, that, is paradise to us. Not this metal cage."

Zorome huffed and looked away.

…

When they returned to the manor, they changed out of their dress clothes and back into their normal gear. Reaper then dispelled the shadow shield around the manor and disappeared. Owl locked herself in her room at the same time as Reaper left.

 **Later, about 10 miles from Plantation 13**

Reaper set down the Magma Energy container he had carried out here. It had taken quite a bit of effort to steal one for his purposes, but he got it done. Reaper then took off his cloak, leaving him in only a black form fitting shirt and pants. He then opened his communicator and began to play a song as loud as possible. Looking at his communicator he saw that it was 1200 hours. _"I've got half a day, let's do this."_ He thought. He summoned Harvester just as he spotted several Klaxosaurs in the distance, attracted to the large source of Magma Energy.

"Come on you fucks, let's see if you can kill me this year." Reaper muttered to himself as the first Klaxosaur approached. He launched forward, generating a massive dust cloud that obscured what it was he was doing from the camera's.

…

Reaper 1 sans Reaper and Owl walked into the briefing room. They were summoned a few minutes ago but were unable to find Reaper and Owl refused to leave her room, so they proceeded to the room and would fill the two in later on what this was about.

"Where are R-01 and R-06?" Hachi said as he noticed the two's absence.

"We can't find Reaper right now and Owl is… busy. I am acting Squad leader until Reaper or Owl return." Crow said.

Hachi sighed. "Very well. Do you know anything about this?" He said as a view from the external cameras came up.

There was a constant dust cloud about 10 miles from the plantation. Occasionally, flashes of light occurred within or blue blood would spirt outside the cloud.

"This appeared a little over an hour ago and has yet to dissipate. There is also some kind of sound coming from it, but we can't identify what it is. We were hoping that you might be able to tell us what this is." Hachi said.

( **A/N: Play Careless Whisper by George Michael** )

Over the sound of steel meeting steel and the roars of Klaxosaurs, Crow heard,

 _I'm never gonna dance again_

 _These guilty feet have got no rhythm_

 _Although it's easy to pretend_

 _I know you're not a fool_

 _Should've known better than to cheat a friend_

 _Waste the chance that I've been given_

 _So, I'm never gonna dance again_

 _The way I danced with you_

"Careless Whisper." Snake said, and the entire squad looked down at the date.

"Ah that's why." Raven said. "It's that date. No wonder Owl locked herself away."

"Indeed." Crow said.

The song then changed and what played caused the squad's eyes to widen.

( **A/N: Play Havana by Camila Cabello** )

"It's been a very long time since I heard this song." Cypress said.

"He's refused to play her song for years." Crow said.

"It's always been rather painful for him to listen to." Raven said.

Hachi and Nana were completely lost. "What is that sound? And what are you talking about?" Nana asked.

"That sound is called music, people used to listen to it all the time before the Klaxosaurs attacked. As for what we are talking about, don't worry about it. As for the dust cloud, don't worry about that either. Just have a medical team ready when the dust settles." Snake said, and the squad began to walk out the door.

"What are you talking about? What is that?" Hachi asked.

"I said don't worry about it. It's not a threat. Also, don't interfere, he is not in his right mind right now and will kill you if you do. Just have the medical team ready like I said." Snake said and closed the door behind him.

"Have the medical teams get ready Nana, also mobilize 13 just in case." Hachi said as he stared that the dust cloud as the song switched again.

…

 **Klaxosaur Territory**

 **Location: unknown**

"Reaper, what are you doing out there?" H wondered aloud.

She was staring at a screen which was showing a dust cloud. She heard that Careless Whisper was playing but couldn't figure out why Reaper was out there. Just then the door to her room opened and J walked in.

"You called H?" J said.

"Yes," H gestured to the screen. "can you figure out what Reaper is doing out there by himself?"

J looked at the screen and listened to the song that was playing. He then checked the date and then nodded.

"Reaper is repenting." J said as the song changed to Havana

H's eyes widened when she heard her song playing. "Repenting?"

"Yes, today is the day that, to him, you and I died."

"But that doesn't explain why he is out there!"

J sighed, she wasn't going to like what he was going to tell her.

"He is punishing himself for our deaths, specifically yours."

H's face paled. "What?"

"Reaper blames himself for what happened to us, to you. So, every year on the day of your death, before they disappeared, without fail, he has taken a container of Magma Energy out to the middle of nowhere and attacked any Klaxosaur that approached in hopes that they would kill him."

"Why?" H whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Like I said, as punishment for your death. He believes that, had he stayed, you would still be alive. So, he does this in hopes one would come along and be too strong for him and kill him. I haven't let that happen of course, just sent enough that he would be satisfied without hurting him too much."

"You knew all this time!" she shouted. "And you did nothing to stop him?!"

"What could I have done H? We can't reveal ourselves and if I did not send some to him he would just go and find a nest and have a guarantee to get killed. What would you have liked me to do?"

H said nothing and turned back to the screen, tears running freely from her eyes as her beloved got himself hurt over her.

"It's not your fault, Reaper." She whispered. "It was never your fault."

…

 **1800 hours**

 **6 hours later**

As Reaper killed the last Klaxosaur he sighed.

"Damn, I'm still alive."

Reaper shut off the music as he walked over to one of the dead Conrad classes. He grabbed one of its claws and ran it across his wrist, adding yet another cut to his collection.

"Six years." He said looking at the cuts on his wrist. "It's been six years since you left me. If only I had done something different, you might still be with me."

He then grabbed the Magma Energy container and made the trek back to the plantation. When he arrived a group of security officers were waiting and took the Magma Energy container out of his hands. Two medical officers then sat him down and began to treat the various lacerations he had received on his chest and back as well as the slit on his wrist. While this was going on his squad as well as 13 and Nana and Hachi rushed into the room.

"Reaper! What the hell were you thinking!" Ichigo shouted and went forward to slap some sense into him.

She was stopped by Crow as Nana stepped forward.

"Reaper, why did you do this to yourself?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Punishment." Was his response.

"Why…" she started to say before being cut off by Crow.

"Nana don't ask that question."

"The only thing that you need to know is that on this day, 96 years and two hours ago, Reaper lost everything that mattered to him. Owl too, which is why she locked herself in her room and has refused to leave." Raven said.

Snake looked at Squad 13 and saw that Ichigo looked confused.

"Think of it this way, Ichigo. Imagine how you would feel if Hiro had just died. Then, multiply that by a thousand and you have but a glimpse into the pain those two are feeling right now." Snake said.

Reaper then stood after the medics had treated him and left without a word. The group stared after him.

"He is probably going to stop sleeping again." Raven said.

Nana looked at her shocked.

"The next week is going to be rough on the both of them. Cypress, Raven, make sure that they eat." Crow said, he then turned to Hachi.

"Can you shift Reaper and Owl to light duty for the next week or so? They won't be fit for sortie right now."

Hachi nodded. "Am I to assume that you will take squad leader position until they return?"

"Yes."

…

Reaper entered their wing of the manor. He walked down the hallway, unseeing of what was in front of him, his mind still stuck in the past. As he passed Owl's door, it suddenly unlocked, and a hand reached out and dragged him inside. Owl relocked the door and she sat him on the bed. Owl then sat on his lap and curled against him. Reaper's hands automatically wrapped around Owl and he placed his chin on her head. They sat there until they both fell asleep, both taking comfort in each other and in the fact that someone else understood what they were going through.

* * *

 **A/N:** Poor Reaper and Owl. They have gone through so much pain and they still have more to face. The next chapter will be the partner switch episode and Mitsuru is going to have the shit scared out of him. So, you have that to look forward to. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	15. Chapter 15:Rage and the Truth

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 15: Rage and The Truth

"We killed twenty-five in total today. The enemies were all the same type of Conrad class, just like on the other days." Ichigo said.

Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were standing in the briefing room, giving Nana and Hachi a rundown on the day's events. Three weeks had passed since Havana and James's day of death and Reaper and Owl had been shifted back to active duty.

"Thank you for the report." Nana said, she then turned her gaze to Reaper 1 who were standing in the back of the room. "How did your mission go Reaper 1?"

"Two more sub-bases cleared but nothing of interest inside and no nest." Reaper responded.

That was a lie. There were things of interest inside. Information. Information that was disturbing to say the least. Their FranXX were alive, of that Reaper was now positive. It seems that Humanity was harvesting the dead Klaxosaurs and converting them into FranXX, meaning that they were essentially piloting the Klaxosaurs. Which led to even more disturbing thoughts, but without concrete evidence, the Klaxosaurs were still the enemy.

"Thank you. Keep looking, we will find the nest eventually. Due to your tremendous work, the S-Planning in this area is proceeding smoothly." Nana said.

"That being said, Codes 326 and 196 you need to up your kill count. Your Paracapacity scores are falling as well." Hachi said.

"I just wasn't feeling well today." Mitsuru said.

"That doesn't excuse these scores." Hachi said, and Mitsuru just scoffed and turned his head away.

"Anyway, keep it up and defend the work area from tomorrow onward, too. That is all, dismissed." Hachi said.

…

The next day when Reaper and his squad returned from clearing yet another base, they found that Squad 13 had yet to return. It was late evening, so they should have been back by now. Reaper and his squad went to Reaper's room to view the footage from the briefing room. They had placed their own cameras and microphones in the room for situations like this where they were away from Squad 13 and something happened. Reaper started the recording.

"What is S-Planning anyway?" Zorome asked.

"I don't know. Digging for more Magma Energy maybe? That's an excavator, right?" Hiro said.

On screen, Squad 13 was standing guard outside of a massive wall, Reaper could see a large structure sticking out above the wall, it looked more like a pile driver to him.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good. I'm about to choke on the stench of Klaxosaurs." Strelitiza said.

Over in Genista's cockpit, Futoshi was just about professing his love for Kokoro but was doing a terrible job of it. Reaper and his squad were cringing at his attempts but were fortunately spared anymore from Argentea interrupting.

"Could you guys knock it off, I'm about to be sick over here."

"Wait, you guys could hear us the whole time?" Futoshi asked.

"Unfortunately." Mitsuru replied.

They were spared any further embarrassment by a Klaxosaur alert going off in their cockpits.

"Klaxosaurs approaching from 9 o'clock. All units prepare to intercept." Delphinium said.

"Hasn't Reaper 1 found that nest yet?" Zorome complained.

Owl scoffed. "You try finding a Klaxosaur nest in a 10-mile radius. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Just then, at the most inopportune moment, Chlorophytum fell to her knees and deactivated.

"Chlorophytum, report!" Delphinium said.

"Mitsuru is down, he's breathing really heavy and sweating pretty badly." She replied.

Squad 13 easily dealt with the Klaxosaurs as Chlorophytum was returned to the plantation. After that little bout was over, no Klaxosaurs showed up for the rest of the day. The mission ended about an hour ago.

Reaper killed the feed and turned to his squad.

"Infirmary."

They proceeded to the infirmary but found no one there. Reaper heard voices on the other side of the infirmary door, so he decided to knock.

"Enter." They heard Hachi say.

"Oh Reaper 1. When did you get back?" Nana asked as she stuck a needle into Mitsuru's arm.

"About 10 minutes ago." Raven said.

"What's wrong with him?" Cypress asked.

"The Child Fever. It's an illness that only strikes children, as the name says." Nana says.

"What are the symptoms?" Reaper asked.

"Tiredness, heavy breathing, sweating, loss of consciousness, headaches, and a general sense of unwellness." Hachi said.

"Flu." Owl said to Reaper. "Although its mutated far beyond what we have experienced, based on the sudden onset."

"Flu?" Nana asked.

"Influenza, if you want to be technical. It's an illness that plagued Humanity many years ago. Potentially deadly to those very young and those very old, it usually struck during the winter months. Its symptoms are similar to those you described, especially in the late stages when left untreated." Snake said.

"I'll give him an antipyretic, it's only a stopgap measure for now, but it should show some effect tomorrow." Nana said, sticking a needle into Mitsuru's arm.

"I'm assuming that you came here to give your report?" Hachi said.

"And figure out where Squad 13 went since it was past sundown." Crow said.

"13 left about 5 minutes before you arrived. What is your report?"

"Once again, no nest, but there are signs of an approaching Gutenberg class. Although what type it was we were unable to discern." Reaper said.

"That's disturbing. They are already down one FranXX…" Nana said worriedly. "Reaper 1, we are pulling you off your current assignment, your new orders are to assist Squad 13 with defending the S-Planning site."

"Understood, ma'am." Reaper said, and his squad saluted her and Hachi.

"Dismissed." She said, and Reaper and his squad walked out.

"I wish they wouldn't do that, it embarrasses me." Nana muttered with a light blush. "For Papa's sake, they are only a few years younger than me!"

…

Reaper and his squad walked toward the hanger, there was something that they needed to address. Just before they entered the hanger, Reaper waved his hand and the camera's in the room were covered in shadow, all the camera's saw was the room as it was now, without the Reapers inside it. They walked into the room and stood in the center of the room facing their FranXX.

"Black Rose, quit faking, I know you are awake." Reaper said.

" _You know?"_ A voice said.

"We do." Owl said.

" _The others?"_

"We do as well." Crow said as he stared at Lotus.

A sigh was heard before Black Rose came online. Her faceplate activated, but she managed to say in her humanoid form due to being in the docking station. She turned her head to the other two FranXX.

" _Alright girls, the jig is up."_

Lotus and Digitalis activated and then looked down at their pilots.

" _It is nice to finally meet you, pilots."_ Lotus said to Crow and Raven.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you all as well." Reaper said, and his squad bowed to them as a greeting.

" _I must apologize, Snake, for a few weeks ago. I wasn't expecting to be thrown that far and I tried to catch myself, leading to your broken arm."_ Digitalis said with a look of shame.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine now, so no permanent harm done." Snake said.

"Thank you, Black Rose, from saving us from those close calls the other day." Owl said.

" _Not a problem, Reaper. That is why we are here, to see that which you cannot. Death made us to assist you in combat since, by technicality, you are not the one doing the fighting."_ Black Rose said.

" _Strelitiza! Quit being shy!"_ Lotus said to her.

She received a growl in response but otherwise Strelitiza stayed silent and offline. Reaper walked over in front of Strelitiza.

"I doubt I need to tell you this Strelitiza, but I'm going to say it anyway." Reaper said and bowed to her. "Keep them safe. They have suffered enough at the hands of these humans and I would like you to keep them from further harm while they are with you."

Strelitiza activated for a moment to look at Reaper, before nodding to him and shutting off again.

"Thank you." Reaper said and walked back to the others.

" _Are we going hunting again tomorrow, Reaper?"_ Black Rose asked.

"No, we have been reassigned to helping 13 defend the S-Planning site. We probably won't be deployed tomorrow due to Chlorophytum's stamen being in medical." Reaper said.

" _Why were we shifted to guard duty?"_ Lotus asked.

"The loss of Chlorophytum is one reason, but the main one is due to that Gutenberg that is roaming about the area." Owl said.

" _Do they think that we couldn't handle it?"_ Digitalis huffed.

"No, more accurately, they probably think that Squad 13, being down one FranXX, won't be able to handle it. It is likely that the Gutenberg will ignore us and rush the S-Planning site, meaning that if we were off hunting, as you say, we would be too far away to lend assistance, if needed." Raven said.

"Alright everyone, we need to head back." Reaper said. "It was wonderful meeting you all I look forward to working with you Black Rose." The others nodded in agreement.

" _It was nice meeting you as well pilots. We also look forward to working with you. Have a good night Reapers."_ Black Rose said, then she as well as Lotus and Digitalis shut down.

As Reaper and his squad exited the room, Reaper waved his hand removing the shadow obscuring the cameras.

…

"Reaper, may I ask you a possibly impolite question?" Ichigo asked.

Ichigo had taken to meditating with him whenever he went. She, much like he, found the activity relaxing, as well as a good way to bounce ideas off of Reaper as they came up.

"Ask away, the answer will depend on the question."

"Who is it you believe in? You don't pray to Papa like we do, so who do you believe in?"

"We believe in something far more powerful than your Papa. I doubt you will believe me, but your Papa is not a god. An extremely smart man, yes, but a god, no. Humanity used to know who we believe in but since Papa showed up, you all have forgotten who he is. Like I said, who we believe in is far older and far more powerful than Papa."

"Can I ask another question?" He nodded. "What is it that you say at dinner? I've only caught bits and pieces of it and it makes no sense."

*"Tibi gratias ago tibi Magister: providente nos cum elevatum coram nobis. Lorem Praestans alia planum in ista vita beatitudinis aeternae. Permanere possint voto obligare ad nos in nomine servientes usque ad dona nobis requiem. May fide nostra non repulsa. Amen."

Poor Ichigo looked so confused. "What language is that?"

"Figure that out, and figure out what it says, and I'll tell you who we believe in."

…

"Partner Shuffle?" Everyone asked.

"This isn't an order. It is merely and option available to you. Take this chance to talk it out with your partners, and if anyone would like to try the shuffle, ask." Nana said.

Reaper cast an eye about his squad. No one seemed inclined to change. He then looked at Hiro and Zero Two, the two were so wrapped up in each other though, it didn't seem to be a problem. So, he relaxed.

"We don't need this shuffle." Futoshi was saying, "After all, I've already promised to protect you forever. Right, Kokoro?"

Kokoro gave a non-committal "yeah" as a response. Reaper saw however, her eyes were locked on Mitsuru and Ikuno. _"This isn't going to end well."_

"Shut up! I told you to drop it!" Mitsuru shouted, causing everyone to look at him.

After turning his head away, everyone went back to their conversations.

…

"So, is there anyone who wants to try riding with a different partner?" Nana asked.

Ikuno raised her hand. "I would like to try pistil to pistil connections. For emergency situations were a backup stamen is not available." She glanced at Ichigo. "Would you mind helping me, Ichigo?"

"Me?" Ichigo said, shocked.

"Please?"

"Uh, sure."

Reaper narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that Ikuno was bi, something Reaper knew would be seen as a disease in their current time period, but this confirmed it. It didn't bother him and his squad, it just concerned him that it might become an issue later.

"Very well, we will try it. Anyone else?" Nana said.

For a moment, all was silent. Then Kokoro raised her hand.

"I would like to try piloting with Mitsuru" Kokoro said.

"But-but Kokoro, y-you promised!" Futoshi stuttered.

"I'm sorry Futoshi."

" _Oh boy"_ Reaper thought.

Everyone else left the room except for Reaper 1 and Goro.

"Reaper, what are you doing?" Goro said from the door.

"Pulling up their Paracapacity scores." He said striding over to the console. "Don't tell me you're not curious, Ichigo is involved." He then pulled up the proper screen just before the test started.

Watching the screen, Reaper saw that Ichigo and Ikuno had no score and timed out while Genista's score held above the minimum and passed.

"This is not going to end well." Crow said, looking at Genista's passing score, and everyone nodded.

…

That evening, Reaper was walking toward the boy's wing. They had been trying to talk some sense into Futoshi, who had been in tears when Genista passed, for over 2 hours. He was just coming to check on them when he heard a scuffle occurring. Turning the corner, Reaper got there just in time to see Mitsuru dodging a flying Futoshi who faceplanted into the wall.

"What a pain." Mitsuru said.

"Mitsuru try to understand how Futoshi feels." Hiro said.

"What gives you the right to say that?" Mitsuru said.

Hiro gasped as he remembered what Mitsuru was talking about. Before he could say anything, Reaper cut in.

"Mitsuru your being an ass for no reason."

"Why do you care about my reasons Reaper? What have you ever lost? When the fighting got too tough in your time, you froze yourself like a coward. You are nothing but a failure."

The temperature in the room plummeted. The shadows rose and covered the windows letting in only a small amount of light. Horrifying creatures crawled out of the shadows and stood behind Reaper. Other shadows depicted horrible visions of death and destruction. The only thing that could be see of Reaper's face were his burning red eyes, they were alight with the fury he was feeling.

Looking at what was going on around him Goro whispered in Mitsuru's ear,

"Mitsuru, I think you just dug your grave."

…

 **Meanwhile**

Owl was just getting ready for bed when she realized something was happening. The shadows in her room were attempting to reach through the ceiling and the temperature in the room was slowly dropping.

"Oh shit." Owl said.

She then raced off, unaware of what she was wearing, to find Reaper and make sure he did not kill someone.

…

 **Back with a pissed off Reaper**

" **What do** _ **I**_ **know about loss?"** Reaper said, his voice full of fury. **"The more accurate question is, what could you, in your pathetically short life, know about loss. Tell me, Mitsuru, have you ever watched your world burn?"**

Reaper walked forward.

" **Have you seen everything you cared about in this world, be obliterated before your very eyes?"**

Reaper summoned Harvester.

" **Have you watched your hopes, dreams, and achievements be reduced to nothing more than fucking ash?"**

Reaper placed Harvester against Mitsuru's throat and the shadow monsters closed in, Squad 13 backing off due to fear.

…

Nana was watching the screen with tension on her face. She and Hachi were watching a live feed from the manor showing Reaper threatening Mitsuru. Dr. Franxx was also in the room, observing what the shadows were doing.

"Should we send some guards to stop him?" Nana asked.

"No point. He would cut them down without even blinking." Hachi said.

"Reaper said this wouldn't happen. He said that his squad would intervene." Nana said with worry.

"Someone is." Hachi said.

He then pointed to one of the other cameras. It was showing a scantily clad Owl blurring through the manor, attempting to reach Reaper in time.

"I hope she makes it." Nana said.

…

Mitsuru was feeling an extreme amount of fear. Even when Zero Two attacked him, he did not feel anything close to this level of fear. Mitsuru could swear he felt cold fingers tracing a path down his spine. Reaper was up in his face and the only thing he could see was Reaper. His vision then waivered, and what he saw truly terrified him. Reaper had been replaced with a skeleton. It was wearing a black cloak with its hood up. It had a single bladed steel scythe pressed to his throat and it was staring at him with two beady red eyes. The illusion was then broken as Owl raced around the corner.

"Reaper!"

Reaper's attention turned toward Owl.

"Enough Reaper. Go walk it off." She ordered.

Reaper glared at her for a solid minute before dispelling the shadows covering the windows and the shadow monsters crawled back into the shadows. He then banished Harvester and turned and walked off. Before turning the corner however, he punched one of the outside walls, making a new window. The stone that made up that portion of wall reduced to dust and pebbles.

Zero Two, who had showed up in the middle of everything, then slapped the shit out of Zorome and Futoshi who were staring at the scantily clad Owl with their tongues hanging out. Owl sighed pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Who said what?"

"Mitsuru accused Reaper of being a coward for freezing himself and asked him what he knew about loss." Hiro said.

"You. Fucking. Idiot." She growled at him. "Given what happened a few weeks ago, you still pulled this shit? You are lucky that Reaper decided to listen to me, because if he hadn't," Owl then pointed to the new hole in the wall, "that would have been you."

Owl got in Mitsuru's face.

"Until you have been through the hell that Reaper and I have, don't assume you know anything about loss."

She then shoved him aside and walked back down the hall, covering Futoshi and Zorome's eyes with shadow as she went.

…

The next morning's breakfast was near silent. Most of squad 13 was afraid of Reaper, evidently, the boys had told the girls what had happened, except for Hiro and Zero Two. It hadn't helped matters that Reaper was still silently fuming. He quickly ate his breakfast and left to the lake to meditate. He was there for only an hour when the Klaxosaur alarm went off.

"Good. Something I can vent on." He muttered and cracked his knuckles.

…

Owl reached the hanger a few minutes before Reaper did. As Reaper entered the hanger, Black Rose quietly asked Owl a question.

" _Owl why is everyone afraid of Reaper?"_

Owl sighed. "One of the parasites in Squad 13 accused Reaper of being a coward and asked what he knew about loss, and Reaper went a bit overboard in his reaction."

Reaper and Owl walked into Black Rose. As Reaper got ready to connect, a message popped up in front of him.

 _I'm sorry Reaper._

"It's not your fault Black Rose. The boy doesn't know any better and that makes it easy for him to push my buttons by mistake." He said, he then began the linking sequence.

…

"There is a Gutenberg class Klaxosaur inbound to the S-Planning site from the SSW." Hachi said. "All workers have been removed from the site, set up a defensive perimeter half a click out and neutralize the target. Genista and Chlorophytum will act as rear support. Reaper 1, you will meet it head on."

"Yes, sir!"

"That thing is huge!" Argentea said.

"And ugly." Zorome added.

"Then let's kill it!" Reaper said as his squad rocketed forward, Strelitiza right beside them.

Black Rose jumped on top of the Klaxosaur and began slicing away while Strelitiza tried to run it through underneath.

"No good, the cores too deep." Hiro said.

"Guys, I think we pissed off mama…OOF!" Reaper said as Black Rose was hit in the gut and set flying.

Strelitiza ran and caught her before she hit the ground.

" _Thanks, Strelitiza."_ Black rose said and Strelitiza nodded.

Reaper resummoned Nightmare who had been knocked out of Black Rose's hand when she was hit.

"Alright, now you've pissed me off." Reaper said.

"What did you mean by 'we pissed off mama'?" Strelitiza asked.

"It's a collective mass. It's made up of all those small Klaxosaurs that you have been fighting over the past few days." Owl said.

Squad 13 continued to try to kill the Klaxosaur instead of trying to stop its movement.

"Strike it in the legs! We need to slow it down!" Reaper said but Squad 13 ignored them.

"13, did you hear what Reaper said?" Crow asked.

"No. We have all muted Reaper." Was Argentea response.

Reaper began to twitch.

"Easy Reaper. Guys you need to listen to what Reaper says. This is a collective mass Klaxosaur, hacking and slashing only makes things worse. You need to impede its movement, strike it in the legs." Crow said.

"Great idea, Crow!" Futoshi said.

"Genista, use your canon to help break it apart. That will expose the core." Owl said, but again they were ignored.

"Cypress." Reaper growled.

Cypress repeated what Owl said, again trying to get squad 13 to unmute Black Rose.

"Thanks for the idea, Digitalis." Mitsuru said.

"Hey, it was Owl's idea." Genista said, and Black Rose relaxed a bit, glad to know someone was on their side, until Mitsuru broke that.

"Who's Owl."

Black Rose began to twitch, claws forming on her hands. It was one thing to ignore the entire squad, but to single her pilots out because they were afraid was quite another.

"Ignore us one more time…" Reaper and Owl growled.

"Easy you two, easy." Strelitiza said.

Reaper and his squad watched, as Reaper now considered Zero Two and Hiro a part of their squad, even if they weren't officially, as Squad 13 began to attack its legs. Chlorophytum was operating fine but Genista was having trouble, Mitsuru was trying to push Kokoro too much.

"Digitalis help Genista. Long range support. Lotus swing around to the back and try to sever the tendons in its back legs. Strelitiza, keep me calm." Reaper said ending with a growl.

Everything was going fine, until Genista fell. Mitsuru pushed Kokoro to far and their sync rates fell below operating levels causing her to shut down. The Klaxosaur was raising a foot to crush her when Reaper shouted,

"Run you fool!"

But he was ignored again, and Chlorophytum stopped the foot from crushing her. It was then that Lotus and Delphinium severed the tendons on the Klaxosaurs rear legs causing it to fall to its knees.

"That was a great plan Lotus!" Delphinium said, then a loud growl was heard.

"Reaper, Owl, no!" Strelitiza shouted, but it was too late.

Nana quickly pulled up Black Rose's sync scores and saw something strange. Their scores had both dropped into the negatives, which wasn't possible (instead of having a positive and negative pulse there were two negative pulses). It was causing Black Rose to enter some kind of Rampage mode, but different from the norm.

"Reaper, Owl, whatever you're doing, don't!" Nana shouted.

Some type of multi-layered voice came over the comms.

" **We will not be ignored again.** " it said.

…

Black Rose was changing. She was forced onto all fours, all the color was drained out of her leaving her a pitch-black color. Her fingers changed into long claws and her eyes turned to a burning red color. Her body changed to that of her Rampage mode but with spikes across her skin and her mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. She let out a terrifying roar which caused Squad 13 to look at her, even the Klaxosaur, who had extended a leg which was growing like roots toward the S-Planning site, turned and froze at the sight.

"What have you all done?!" Lotus and Digitalis shouted.

Black Rose took off toward the Klaxosaur, leaving black after images after herself as she ran. The Klaxosaur quickly regenerated its severed tendons and retracted its leg and began to flee from the approaching monstrosity.

" **Get back here.** " Black Rose said as it pursued the fleeing Klaxosaur.

13, and the remains of Reaper 1 watched as Black Rose chased after the fleeing Klaxosaur. Genista had gotten back up, solving whatever issues the two were having apparently.

"You all had to go and ignore them." Snake said. "After we told you not to do that."

Black Rose and the Klaxosaur had disappeared from view, but they could hear the Klaxosaur trying to get away.

"Now we have to deal with this mess. Great. This is gonna hurt." Digitalis said.

Black Rose let out another terrifying roar and the Klaxosaur began to shriek bloody murder.

"Crow, report. What the hell happened to Black Rose?" Nana said.

"The children have pissed them off so much, they have become Consumed." Crow said.

"'Consumed'?" Nana asked.

"In essence, Reaper and Owl have fallen into a blind rage, a state we call Consumed. While Consumed, we can't differentiate between friend and foe. We can only focus on what caused us to be Consumed." Crow said.

"Basically, they have gone temporarily insane. Since it was Squad 13 and the Klaxosaur that caused them to enter this state, they are going to come after them, and anything else in the way." Lotus said.

"Retreat back into the plantation." Hachi said.

"No! Then they will tear through the plantation to get to Squad 13!" Digitalis said.

The Klaxosaurs screams were abruptly cut off and they could hear Black Rose's triumphant roar.

Lotus and Digitalis summoned Hurricane and Corruption. "Children get behind us and do not interfere, they will tear you apart. Nana have several medical teams at the ready. We are going to need them." Crow said solemnly.

"What are you planning on doing?" Nana asked.

"Fighting them. We have orders from our master to keep these children safe, and Reaper and Owl killing them is not keeping them safe. On her own, Owl is not too hard to subdue in a Consumed state, but she and Reaper are our best fighters. We are going to get very hurt because of this. but, if we can stall them long enough, they should snap out of the Consumed state. While Reaper does not have a limit to the damage he can take, Owl does. When she falls, he will fall." Crow said.

"I hope you children learn from this. Last time Reaper became Consumed, it took 2 years as well as 3 Reaper teams to subdue him, including ourselves. And none of us came out of that fight unscathed. We are trying to repeat that feat with only four of us. We are going to get critically injured because of this. Think about that." Snake said.

Strelitiza then stepped next to Lotus and drew her lance.

"Strelitiza, what are you doing?" Lotus asked.

"We are fighting with you. Reaper and Owl are our friends and we want them back." Hiro replied.

"Are you prepared to die?" Digitalis asked.

Strelitiza smirked. "We are."

"Good, because here they come." Crow said as Black Rose reappeared on the horizon.

…

Black Rose was drenched in blue blood. It was dripping from her body as she stalked toward Squad 13. Her gaze was boring holes into Delphinium's head as she approached. Even though she was made of metal, you could almost see muscles rippling beneath her skin as she took a step. Strelitiza, Lotus, and Digitalis stepped in her way.

" **Get out of my way or you die.** " Black Rose said without stopping.

"I'm sorry Black Rose but we can't do that." Crow said.

Black Rose's muscles tensed as she stopped. _"Here she comes."_ Crow thought.

" **Then DIE!** " she screamed as she leapt at Lotus.

Lotus ducked as Black Rose attempted to take her head. Black Rose turned and lunged at her again and Lotus was once again forced to dodge, this time a swipe at her chest. When Black Rose landed she was hit by a shadow wave which knocked her over. Rolling over, she snarled at Digitalis, who fired the shot and went after her instead. She had gotten a few strikes in on Digitalis before she was hit again, she had gotten a hit on her arm as well as a couple of slices on her legs. Then Strelitiza joined in on the fray by stabbing her in the paw. Black Rose turned and glared at her.

" **You should have stayed out of this Zero Two. I was going to let you live, but you interfered.** " Black Rose said and lunged at her as well.

So, the fight continued. Each side taking more and more damage until Black Rose got lucky. Digitalis didn't dodge in time and Black Rose landed on her chest. She snarled and began digging in with her claws. Cypress screamed.

" **You shouldn't have interfered Cypress! If you hadn't then I would be about to fucking kill you!** " Black Rose said before she was knocked off of her by Lotus.

"Digitalis status!" Crow said as he fended of Black Rose.

"*cough* Punctured lung." Snake wheezed. "Both Cypress *Cough* and I *Wheeze* were mauled pre*cough cough*tty badly."

"Delphinium, get them back to the plantation. Nana I hope those medical teams are ready." Hiro said.

Black Rose was still assaulting Crow when they got a hit on Black Roses right flank. Severely impeding her movement. In retaliation, she ran a claw down Lotus's leg, crippling her.

" **Well Raven, I guess this is then end of the line for you two. Too bad. You two don't get the happy ending.** " Black Rose mocked as she stalked forward.

She would never get the chance to finish the job. Strelitiza had taken the chance while her back was turned to jump in the air and stab her through the back.

" **A-a-a-a-a…** "

Her mouth was open and her eyes wide before she collapsed and shut down. Her skin faded back to the normal black and red that her Rampage mode had and the claws disappeared as well as the extra spikes, teeth changing back to normal.

"Is it done?" Nana asked.

"It is done." Lotus said before she passed out from exhaustion and pain.

…

Squad 13 were waiting outside of the medical ward, faces full of guilt. Cypress and Snake had been mauled badly, Crow and Raven's lower legs were torn to ribbons but the worst was Reaper and Owl. They both had holes in their chests where they had been stabbed through by Strelitiza as well as the deep gouges in their hips from Lotus. The most worrying fact was that, upon admittance, they weren't registering any higher brain functions.

Just then, Nana walked out of the medical ward.

"They'll live, but that is about the only good news I have." Nana said. "Even with their extreme healing, it is going to take time for them to be back 100%. It's not something they can just walk off. The most concerning ones are Reaper and Owl, they still aren't registering higher brain function.

…

When Reaper awoke he was in a black room. Looking around, Reaper saw there was a door and white mist floating through the room. _"Aww crap, I know where I am. I'm in the Punishment Room."_ Reaper thought.

The Punishment Room was a special room within the Shadow Realm. It was a sealed room with a door that only opened from the outside. The walls were made up of pure shadow energy, so they couldn't be damaged or broken and there were no windows. He had been in here a few times, when he got out of hand.

He sat and thought about what he did to be sentenced to stay in here. Suddenly, the memories hit him. Oh, that's why. He had gotten Consumed and attempted to attack the children. That violated his orders to protect them, thus sending him here.

Reaper curled up against a wall, hugging his knees to his chest and placing his head down. _"I wonder what master will come up with for punishment this time."_ Reaper thought. The last time it had been isolation, as a punishment for assaulting one of his commanders for giving bad orders which resulted in children getting killed, he was confined to the Punishment Room for a month. The light died from his eyes as he thought about what his master might choose to do this time.

He had been staring unseeing in front of him for so long that he did not register that Death had entered the room. It wasn't until he started speaking that Reaper realized he was there.

" _I did not send you here to punish you Reaper."_ Death said.

When Reaper focused on what was in front of him again, he saw that Death was kneeling down to his level.

"Then why am I here master?" Reaper said in a monotone voice.

" _I sent you here to contain you until your rage subsided."_ Death replied. _"Despite your bodies being knocked out, you and Owl were still full of rage, so I sealed you in separate rooms until you worked it out of your system. You collapsed about 10 minutes before you woke up. You had been at it about 3 hours."_

Reaper then slowly looked around. "How did Owl fair?"

" _Well enough, she was at it for only an hour before she collapsed. I sent her back to her body a little while after she woke up. She was quite concerned about you when I told you were still going at it."_

Reaper let out a chuckle. "That sounds about right."

Death looked at him.

" _You are unsatisfied. Why?"_

"Master, I disobeyed your orders. I failed to protect the children by attacking them. I should be punished for such an act."

Death sighed. _"Fine. I will give you a punishment. Everyone in Squad 13 will know what happened to Havana and James."_

Reaper looked like he'd been punched in the gut.

" _I won't give them all the details, just enough to know what she meant to you and how she died. Nana and Hachi will know too, to a lesser extent. You will, of course, have to deal with the questions they will have. That will be your punishment."_

"Very well master." Reaper said.

" _Now, go back. And remember, the orders given to you by your superiors do not supersede my own. Don't forget your role."_

And Reaper fell asleep.

…

As Reaper came back to consciousness, he felt someone petting his hair. He assumed it was Ichigo, as she was the only one to actually touch his hair and make a comment on its softness.

"I am so sorry Reaper." Ichigo whispered. "We acted so out of line last week, and Mitsuru even more so."

" _Last week?"_ Reaper thought.

"If I had known that you and Owl might not wake up I would have done something different. You two have gone through so much hell. And our actions last week were…inexcusable. We shouldn't have been afraid of you, your anger was justified based on what you went through. To lose someone so important to you…I just can't imagine it."

She stopped petting his hair and he heard her stand up.

"Wake up soon Reaper." She said, and he heard her walk out.

All was silent for a few minutes before the door opened and closed again. He heard the sound of heels on the floor before stopping next to his bed.

"Why Reaper? Why do you fight? If even part of what I saw was true, that kind of pain would break someone. Yet, you continue to fight against those who took everything from you. Why?" A voice said, it sounded like Nana.

She then turned and walked away. Before she could exit, the door opened once more.

"Hachi?"

"Nana. Did you have a peculiar dream last night? One involving people who, I assume were R-01, excuse me, Reaper and his squad?"

"You too?"

"Yes, it appears the children did as well. They are badly shaken up."

"I doubt that such a thing was easy for them to witness."

"They have been trying to make sense of it and Reaper's squad have isolated themselves. No doubt the memory of what happened is rather painful for them. How is he?"

"The wound is still healing, although it is looking better. His brainwaves have risen so it's only a matter of time until he returns to us."

"When he does, make sure the children lay off him a few days. I doubt being reminded of what he lost so soon will help his mental health."

"How is Owl?"

"The children have been hounding her the most, as she experienced almost the same thing. Like the others in his squad she has barricaded herself in her room and refuses to answer their questions. She has been beside herself with worry, since Reaper's condition has not improved before today."

"Alright, let's go deal this situation. It's the easier of the two. What will we tell them though?"

"First, we tell them to back off Reaper 1, then we explain, in the best way we can, what they are going through."

The door then closed behind them.

Reaper tried to open his eyes, say something, anything. But he couldn't do a thing, it was like he was just a passenger in his body. The door opened quietly and closed.

"Reaper." A voice said, Owl.

"Reaper," she said again, "they know. I don't know how, but they know." Her voice cracked, and he heard sobs in her voice.

"Reaper, please, tell me what to do. I can't answer all their questions. It's too painful. What do I do?"

Reaper wanted so badly to reach out and hold her and tell her that everything would be fine, but he couldn't move. He felt her wipe something off his face.

"Even though you're not here, your body still cries for my pain."

She then stood and walked back out the door.

Reaper laid there for a few minutes getting himself together, before attempting to get up. Failing to do so willingly he did it the hard way, Shadow Puppeting himself.

 _Open your eyes._

He felt his eyes being forced open.

 _Move your body._

Reaper forced his body to sit up and look around, loosening the joints.

 _Stand up._

His body stood.

 _Walk._

He made his body walk around the room until he felt himself able to move about on his own and released the Shadow Puppeteering. Summoning his cloak and gathering his communicator he headed toward the door. _"Time to face the music, before things get too out of hand."_

Approaching the manor, Reaper heard an argument going on inside.

"Why can't we talk to her?" Zorome was complaining.

"Because she doesn't want to talk. If you saw even a portion of what we saw, then you should know that experiencing that was painful for her." Hachi said.

"Lay off Zorome, just wait until Reaper wakes up." Miku said.

"Poor Reaper." Ikuno muttered.

Reaper then chose that moment to walk through the door. Everyone turned to him in shock. Nana quickly rushed over and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Reaper." She whispered in his ear before straightening up. "Reaper, what are you doing out of medical? You are not healed."

"I am perfectly fine Nana, now what has happened since I was out?" Reaper said playing dumb.

"What happened after Havana died?" Zorome blurted out.

Even though Reaper was expecting the question it still hit with the force of a punch.

"Who told you what happened to my Havana?" Reaper asked still attempting to recover from the question.

"We all had a dream about it last night." Nana said.

"You didn't answer my question." Zorome pressed.

"After I scattered her ashes, this." Reaper said as he took off his cloak.

Nana and Hachi's eyes widened at the number of scars, as this was their first time seeing them.

Gesturing to his scars, he continued. "I spent the next two years after her death in a Consumed state. I fought any Klaxosaur that crossed my path, Conrad or Super Lehmann class, it did not matter. If they stood before me, they died. Next question."

"Why? Why do you still fight? That kind of pain should have broken you." Nana asked.

"Payback. They took my world from me, I plan on taking theirs. Anything else?"

All was silent.

"Alright then. I need to go confront my squad. If anything happens tell me." He said, he then walked toward their wing.

Bracing himself he walked through the door to find a still hallway. Crossing his arms, he took a deep breath and, in a perfect impression of their drill sergeant, shouted,

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MAGGOTS THINK YOUR DOING? GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Five bodies immediately shot out of their doors and stood at attention. "YES, SARGENT!"

They stood there for a minute looking at him. _"3…2…1…and"_

"REAPER?!" They shouted. _"there it is."_ Reaper thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** This must be my longest chapter yet. 18 pages, almost 7 thousand words without the author's notes and translation. So, for the Consumed state, it's a state that is only achievable if the individual feels nothing but absolute rage. It is extremely overpowered, so I won't be using it often. For those wondering what happened to the Klaxosaur, well…*looks over at a crater with eviscerated Klaxosaur spread everywhere.* …let's just say it is very dead and leave it at that. On that happy note, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!

*Rough Translation: Thank you master, for providing us with the offering before us. Thank you for granting us another day on this earthly plane and blessing us with eternal life. We vow to continue serving in your name until you grant us the Eternal Rest. May our loyalty never waiver. Amen.


	16. Chapter 16: The Garden

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 16: The Garden

It's been three weeks since Reaper woke. It had taken all that time for Reaper to heal from being run through. Owl had torn into him for leaving medical while being injured and forced him to go back until the nurses released him. There were no Klaxosaur attacks in those three weeks, which Reaper found suspicious. The others took it as a welcome break, but Reaper's soldier senses were screaming that something was wrong. Something was about to happen.

Currently, Reaper and his squad as well as Squad 13 were standing at the edge of the Birdcage staring out at the snow. For Squad 13, this was nothing new, they saw snow all the time at the Garden. For Reaper 1, however, it was a rather novel thing. They did not see snow much, due to working in warmer areas and the rapid desertification caused snow to become nonexistent in all areas except those close to the poles. Hence, Reaper and his squad looking about with interest.

"Hey, where is it? I don't see it at all." Miku said.

"Are you sure you saw it?" Ikuno asked.

Ikuno had, somehow, ended up snuggled next to Snake. Reaper was still trying to figure out how that happened, one moment she was next to Futoshi and the next she was snuggled next to Snake. Oddly, Snake was not complaining about the invasion of personal space. Reaper had the suspicion that those two were an item but was still trying to figure out when it happened. Maybe when he was still unconscious? Reaper swore that he and Cypress had a thing going on, though.

"I definitely did." Goro was saying.

"Reaper, is this you and your squad's first time seeing snow?" Hiro asked.

"No." Cypress said still looking around, it was snowing quite the blizzard outside the dome. "We weren't deployed to many snowy regions while we were on duty, and when the desertification began, snow vanished from all areas not close to the poles. So, it's still rather interesting for us."

"Hey Ichigo, a few weeks ago, when we were attacking that collective Klaxosaur, why were you guys ignoring me and Owl?" Reaper asked.

Ichigo hung her head at the reminder and everyone else looked ashamed.

"It was my idea. When the boys told us what you did, it scared us Reaper. The fact that you nearly killed Mitsuru really scared us. It didn't help the fact that Owl defended what you did. At the time, it didn't make sense as to why you acted the way you did. So, I thought that, if we ignored the two of you, you would take back what you did. Obviously, that didn't work."

"To be fair, my squad did warn you. When it comes to Havana and ignoring my orders, I can become quite angry, as you saw. If we hadn't lost our temper however, all that would have happened was, that we would isolate ourselves and have nothing to do with you in return." Reaper said.

"What are you guys looking for anyway?" Raven asked.

"I see it! Over there!" Futoshi shouted.

Off in the distance, Reaper could see a walled city. It had 30-foot walls with defenses scattered around it. It was the only city that Reaper and his squad had seen that was still in operation.

"Goro was right. That's…" Ichigo trailed off.

"Yeah. The Garden." Hiro finished.

" _The Garden? Isn't that where…"_ Reaper thought before his eyes narrowed. Reaper's squad was confused by Reaper's sudden anger until he said,

"Vats."

They immediately understood and looked at the Garden with hate.

…

The Garden was easily the size of the plantation. It had two building inside of it as well as an artificial forest and lake.

"That over there is the Garden, its where hundreds of children are. Its where we were raised. And that tower we are approaching is the research hub, we call it the Lab." Hiro said as they walked.

Oh, how Reaper and his squad wanted to rip this facility apart. They knew that somewhere in the Lab or the Garden is where the vats the children were grown in were.

"I saw the Lab every day from afar, but I'd never gone inside before." Miku said.

"Very, very few children got to come here, right?" Kokoro asked.

"I think Hiro came here a few times." Futoshi said.

"Yeah, I was designated a special research subject back then." Hiro said.

Hiro now knew why he was treated that way and he glared hatefully about the lab, Zero Two clinging on to his arm. Reaper and his squad, sensing the fear rolling off the two, had gathered in a defensive circle around the two. Something was telling Reaper that something very bad was going to happen and happen soon.

"Listen up, the reason we are here is to run tests on you all. I'm sorry to say, this will not be a homecoming. You are hereby banned from entering the Garden." Nana said to Squad 13.

"Tests?" Ichigo whispered.

"What kind of tests would require us to come here, of all places?" Goro whispered back.

Nana turned to Reaper and his squad, who had tightened their defensive circle around the two love birds.

"Reaper, we would like to run some…" Nana started to say before she was cut off.

"No." Reaper said.

Nana then nodded, knowing better than to argue with Reaper.

"Code 002, you will undergo very through testing. You too Code 016. We have been unable to examine you since you changed," Nana said, sending a small glare at Reaper who glared right back, "and we are going to take the opportunity to do so while we have specialized equipment."

Zero Two opened her mouth to retort but Nana cut her off.

"This is an order. We can't put this off any longer."

"Nana." Reaper warned.

"Oh hey!" A voice said.

Reaper quickly turned, and his frown quickly turned into a snarl, Nine Alpha.

"If it isn't Nine Iota." Alpha said.

Reaper quickly connected the dots and glared at Alpha all the harder. Alpha began to walk forward.

"Fancy running into you here. What a coincidence." Alpha said, he then saw her glare and stopped walking. "Or not. You're here for maintenance too, right?"

" _Maintenance?"_ Reaper thought. He then remembered that she had Klaxosaur blood and, by extension, so did Hiro. _"Her genetics must be unstable. Human and Klaxosaur DNA are very different, but she and Hiro haven't been having any issues, so what is really going on?"_

Reaper then decided to speak up, tired of being ignored.

"Well if it isn't a blond asshole with a rod stuck up his ass."

"Hello to you to barbarian. I heard you lost your temper a few weeks ago, tisk, tisk. As a squad leader, you should always keep a level head. Where is that beautiful flower?" Alpha asked.

Squad 13 and Nana and Hachi slowly backed up.

"I'm over here prick." Owl said, glaring at Alpha while putting a hand on Reaper's shoulder.

"Keep it up, and you will be on the receiving end of that temper." Reaper muttered.

"Reaper, who are these guys?" Ichigo asked, Alpha's head whipped toward her before locking eyes with her.

"These assholes are the 9's, Papa's chosen squad of elitist pricks." Reaper growled glaring at Alpha. _"Try it fucker, I'll rip your arm off."_

Alpha bowed to Squad 13. "Pleasure to meet you. You guys are in the same squad as Iota, right? Please escort her to you-know-where safe and sound."

Reaper sent an eyebrow at Nana and Hachi.

"We will explain later." She said.

"Anyway, I'm relieved to see Iota is fitting in with you guys." Alpha said.

"Her name is Zero Two." Hiro said.

"Hmmm. You're her pilot correct? Long time, no see. It seems she inflicted her disease on you. A shame." Alpha said.

Owl and Crow had to restrain Reaper from summoning Harvester.

"I was surprised, I thought she would be too much for an ordinary squad to handle. How did you manage to tame her?"

Zero Two was lightly growling at this point. Reaper was loudly growling and was having to be visibly restrained at this point.

"Zero Two is one of us." Ichigo said, causing Zero Two to look at her in shock, she did not think that she thought of her that way.

"Wow, she must have really taken a liking to you. Never thought she would play buddy-buddy with humans."

"I see the 'special forces' haven't been taught basic etiquette. I fully realize now that I would rather fight with Zero Two than fight with you."

Alpha laughed. "I see. You all are very different from the other parasites." He then walked toward Ichigo. "So that's why Iota is with you."

Alpha then grabbed Ichigo's hand. Then, with a smirk, he kissed her hand, causing Ichigo to turn beet red.

Reaper's eyes flashed red and Alpha was forcibly yanked away from Ichigo, but no one could see how.

"It's time to go children. R-01, you and your squad stay here. Code 002, 016, you come with me." Nana said.

"I've developed an interest in you guys, too. I would love to be a part of your squad sometime." Alpha said as they walked away.

"Sadly, we only have space in the attic. It wouldn't befit elites like you. But if that is ok, your welcome anytime." Ichigo said as she walked away.

"Code 002, 016, now." Nana said, as the two love birds had yet to move from the protective circle Reaper and his squad had made.

"Go on you two. Remember, if you are in danger, touch your palms and run." Reaper whispered to them before sending them off.

"Nana, my warning stands." Reaper said, and she nodded nervously, and the group walked out, leaving only Reaper 1 and the 9's.

"We will be taking our leave as well. Do keep your temper in check barbarian." Alpha said before walking out, the rest following except for Delta and Epsilon.

"We apologize for Alpha's behavior. He is under a lot of stress because of the upcoming mission." Delta said and the two bowed to Reaper 1.

"Go you two, and tell that prick if he tries that again he will lose his arm." Reaper said and the two walked out.

All was silent for a moment before a nearby desk was wrapped in shadow and crushed.

"I look forward to the day I can bury Harvester into Alpha's neck." Reaper said glaring at the door Alpha left through.

…

"All those tests were relatively simple. They could have been easily done at the plantation." Goro said as they reentered the reception area.

They found Reaper 1 standing in various shadows, seemingly asleep, aside from Reaper. Reaper was glaring so hard at a plant it looked like he was trying to set it on fire, and given the nature of their powers, he might actually be successful. Miku looked out the window toward the Garden.

"I wanna go visit the Garden." Miku said.

"Well then, why don't we?" Reaper said, turning his attention away from the unfortunate plant.

"We can't, we're banned, remember?" Goro said.

"Nana only said _you_ were banned. She said nothing about entering with an escort." Reaper said with a sly smile.

13 looked shocked.

"You would…." Ichigo asked.

"Indeed. You all look like you want to go, and we are interested in where you grew up." Crow said, not opening his eyes.

…

As they entered the Garden, Reaper and his squad were immediately disgusted. The children were kept in groups in boxes. The rooms, aside from the library, were a uniform 30 by 30 box. One was a playroom, one was a sleeping quarters, one was a dining hall, and one was a library. All isolated from the main hallway by inch thick glass and metal reinforced doors.

"This is no way to raise children." Cypress whispered to her squad in shock and anger.

"Hey Reaper, over here." Owl said with rage on her face.

They went down a long hallway and ended up in a large room with large vats. Looking inside, Reaper and his squad could see several fetus's growing in a blue liquid.

"This is inhumane." Snake said in horror, while he was all for advancement of science, there are certain lines that were never meant to be crossed.

Shadows began to wrap around one of the tanks. Reaper had a hand open ready to crush it. Reaper 1 would not have stopped him, those children deserved a better life than the one they were going to be forced into. However, the shadows dissipated, and Reaper lowered his hand.

"No." He said closing his eyes. "We do this the right way. Slaughtering children before they are born makes me no better than Papa. End the war first, then we come back and obliterate this facility."

Reaper opened his eyes. He then dropped to his knees as his hand burned.

…

 **Meanwhile**

Hiro and Zero Two were lead down an endless series of hallways. Zero Two was clinging to Hiro's arm for dear life, afraid of where they were being taken.

"Don't worry love, remember, we are protected." Hiro muttered in her ear, causing Zero Two to relax.

Their trip soon ended at a nondescript door. They walked inside and found a room that was filled with light. There were lights on the floors and ceilings, the were even on the walls.

"What the hell?" Hiro muttered.

Then Dr. Franxx walked into the room.

"Separate them." He ordered, and the guards moved forward to separate the two.

Both Hiro and Zero Two activated the Kanji on their palms and a weak shadow shield appeared. It was quickly destroyed by the guard's rifles and they grabbed the two.

"Shadow protection is only useful if there are shadows within the space. In a light filled room like this one, such protections are weak. Now that R-01's protections are dealt with, we can begin testing. Take them away." Dr. Franxx said.

The two were pulled away from each other toward separate doors by the guards.

"Darling!"

"Zero Two!"

Before they lost sight of each other, they felt an insurmountable amount of rage, but it wasn't coming from either of them. They both looked over to a corner of the room where a modicum of shadow existed. There, in the shadows, were a pair of burning red eyes, watching as they were taken away.

…

Reaper hit his knees and gripped his hand. The protection Kanji showed up on his hand and was burned away. His eyes were covered in shadow for several minutes before clearing.

"Reaper?" Raven asked.

Reaper then punched the floor, leaving a crater, his eyes were burning red.

"Back to the Lab." Reaper growled, standing, the shadows within the room were warping.

"Reaper, what happened?" Crow asked.

"Hiro and Zero Two have been captured by the doctor. He figured out that shadow spells don't work without shadow and tricked them to use the shadow shield I gave them in a light filled room."

"What about Squad 13?" Cypress asked.

"Leave them. They won't be harmed, only given a lecture for disobeying orders."

They walked out of the Garden and were half way back to the Lab when they ran across the 9's.

"Now, where do you think you're going?" Alpha asked.

"To the Lab, now get out of our way." Reaper growled.

"I'm afraid you can't return to the Lab right now." Alpha said, as he and his squad settled into defensive positions.

"I don't have time to deal with this." Reaper said, and his eyes flashed, but nothing seemed to have happened.

"What was that supposed to do?" Alpha mocked.

Reaper and his squad then began to walk past them. Alpha turned to stop them but found he couldn't move.

"What the…" Alpha said.

The rest of his squad tried to move as well but couldn't budge.

"What the hell did you do to us?!" Beta shouted at them.

"You can't go anywhere without your shadow, it constantly follows you around. Don't worry he will release you once we are done." Snake said without turning back.

…

As they approached the front doors of the lab, Reaper cocked his head sideways as if listening to someone.

"We've been granted 20% removal. Master recommends long range." Reaper said.

Cypress and Snake summoned their miniguns while Crow and Raven summoned their Deadshots. Only Reaper and Owl summoned their scythes, after all shadow blades are very deadly, close range or not.

"Owl, Snake, and Raven, you take the eastern half of the building. If anyone gets in your way, kill them. Cypress, Crow, we are going to take the western half." Reaper said.

Several shadow monsters crawled out of the shadows and entered the vents.

"The shadow scouts will see if they can find them from the vents. If you find someone who you think might know something, interrogate them. Go." Reaper said.

The two groups then split off to their respective sections. Heaven help any guard who crossed their paths.

…

Squad 13 were sitting in the lounge listening to the explosions. Shortly after being ditched by Reaper 1, they were caught by some of the guards and sent back to the plantation. Just as they were about to receive a lecture from Nana an explosion rocked the building, causing guards to flood into the room and take up defensive positions. That was an hour ago, and the explosions were continuing.

"Where is Reaper and his squad?" Zorome asked.

"I have a feeling they are the ones behind all this." Ikuno answered.

Over the sound of the guard's gunfire and the explosions, Ikuno could hear the occasional *crack* of a sniper rifle or the *wirrrr* of a minigun spinning up.

…

Nana was worried. What had the Doctor done to earn Reaper's wrath? After they had delivered Hiro and Zero Two to the guards, they had been dismissed and told to return to the children. When she had found out that Reaper had taken them to the Garden, she was pissed. When she had learned that Reaper and his squad had hightailed it back, however, she became worried. Hiro and Zero Two were still undergoing testing as far as she knew, and by the sound of it, Reaper and his squad were carving a path through the building. Reports said that they had entered the building armed and had split into two groups and were systematically searching the building. What had Reaper found or felt which caused them to go on a murderous rampage in the building? What had the Doctor done?

…

Reaper was floating, and that's not a good thing. When Reaper is levitating on his own, that means he is pissed beyond belief. He and Owl had received information from a kind guard as to the whereabouts of Hiro and Zero Two, that guard was now dead. Reaper was carving a path through the building to reach Zero Two. Literally. Reaper no longer worried about taking hallways, if there was a wall in his way, it was removed. Cypress and Crow were dealing with any guards foolish enough to come into sight, although as soon as they caught sight of his floating form, they quickly tried to run away. Only a few foolhardy few tried to shoot at Reaper, they were quickly consumed by shadow monsters. As Reaper obliterated yet another wall, he felt he was approaching Zero Two's position. The Doctor, fortunately for him, was with Hiro and did not have to face Reaper. Owl tended to be more level headed than him about things like this, but that didn't mean he was going to be spared a thrashing.

…

Zero Two was in excruciating pain. Physically she was fine, they had not done anything to her but the usual tests, checking her YBC as well as giving her booster shots to keep her stable, but she could feel the agonizing pain they were putting Darling through. They were putting her Darling through the same torture that they had put her through, though how she felt his pain she did not know. She needed to get to Darling but every time she tried to move they would zap her. She had felt tremors running through the building from time to time, but she hadn't thought much of them, until the wall in her examination room imploded. She had never been happier to see an angry Reaper in her entire life.

"Reaper!" Zero Two shouted.

As he walked over to where she was strapped to the table, Cypress eliminated everyone standing in the room. After a quick slice from Harvester Zero Two was free, she attempted to stand but due to the number of shocks she received, her muscles would not respond.

"I got you." Reaper said as he stopped floating.

He picked her up bridal style and they began to walk to the exit.

"Where is Darling?" Zero Two asked.

"Don't worry, Owl is going to get him, that Doctor won't be getting off easy." Reaper said as they walked down the hall. _"He's damn lucky it's her he is dealing with and not me."_ Reaper thought.

…

"Fascinating." Dr. Franxx said.

He was examining some shavings off of Hiro's horns while further tests were going on behind him.

"He seems to be a perfect copy of Zero Two. The crystalline structure of his horns is the same as hers as well as his regeneration abilities. But how? The only possible solution is the blood he ingested as a child but that should have been flushed from his system years ago. How has his body structure altered so much in so little time? There's something else at work here and I am determined to figure out what. Perhaps it was due to the constant exposure to her that caused it?"

Dr. Franxx's ramblings were cut off at the sudden presence of ice spreading within the room.

"What the…" The Doctor said.

"Sir?" One of the technicians asked as the ice covered the equipment causing it to fail.

Following the trail of the rapidly spreading ice, it led to the far-left wall, which was nearly incased in ice.

"Who…?" Dr. Franxx started to say before the wall shattered as Owl, Snake and Raven walked in.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Owl said, her voice as cold as the ice that was continuing to spread.

"Cryokinesis." Dr. Franxx muttered.

"Not quite, but close." Owl said as she advanced toward him. "But you didn't answer my question."

Dr. Franxx turned to run but found his feet incased in ice, it was slowly spreading to cover his body. He looked at Owl in fear.

"Don't worry Doctor. You will be fine. My ice is special in that, unless I want you to, you won't get frostbitten."

She gestured over to where the technicians were turned into frozen statues. At that point, ice had incased the room and Raven was able to free Hiro by punching the frozen bindings that were holding him in place.

"My ice is also unique in the fact that, I can control where it goes and what it freezes, which is why you are being wrapped in ice and Hiro is not." Owl said. "I wonder how long it will take for that fake arm of yours to fail in subzero temperatures? Or maybe I should freeze your limbs one by one and see how much pain you can withstand."

Dr. Franxx was now covered in ice up to his neck but it grew no farther. The ice in the room however, was approaching 3 inches thick.

"Tell me, Doctor, have you ever experienced frostbite?"

Dr. Franxx felt a pins and needles sensation in his right hand.

"That sensation you are feeling right now? That is the feeling of your cells being torn apart as the ice pierces them, causing irreparable damage. It will take a while, but eventually, the nerves and tissue in that hand will die, it's quite a painful process if not treated." Owl said.

The pins and needles sensation began to travel up his arm.

"It is quite unfortunate that you ended up with me. Had Reaper found you, he would have thrown you to the shadow monsters, while you would live, you would be severely injured by the time they were done with you, as well as never be able to sleep without a light again. With me however, you are in for a long, slow, and painful retribution for what you've done." Owl said with a sinister grin, this was however shattered by her communicator going off.

"Owl, Zero Two secured. Status?" Reaper asked appearing onscreen.

"Hiro secured. I was engaging in some…information gathering, from the good doctor." Owl replied.

"Leave it for another day Owl, return to base." Reaper said.

"Aww your no fun." She pouted and ended the call. "Oh well, looks like we will have to finish another time, Dr. Franxx." Owl said.

Dr. Franxx began to panic as the ice covered his head, turning him into a frozen statue like the others. The ice thickened around him until it was 5 inches thick.

"That should take them a while to thaw him out. Let's go you three." Owl said.

"Owl, you can be quite scary, you know that?" Hiro said.

"Why, thank you!" she said with a smile.

…

As they entered the foyer, all heads snapped toward them. The guards raised their guns, but they were suddenly disarmed by their own shadows and restrained.

"Zero Two!" Hiro shouted and ran toward Reaper who was still carrying Zero Two.

"Darling!" she shouted as Reaper set her down, she was a bit shaky, but she could stand.

As the two embraced, Nana walked over to Reaper and his squad, it was hard not to notice the bloodstains.

"Reaper, what did…" Nana started to say.

"Nana, don't ask that question." Reaper interrupted. "You don't want to know what it is we did."

"Reaper, there will be consequences for what you have done here." Hachi said.

"Let them try. They can't harm us, and they know it." Raven said.

Nana pursed her lips. "Let's head back to the plantation."

…

Nana and Hachi were watching the screen in the command center. It was showing 5 horse like Klaxosaurs racing toward the plantation.

"Five Moho class Klaxosaurs. They are not much of a threat but…" Nana said.

"The question remains as to why they showed up here." Hachi finished.

"No Klaxosaurs have been sighted in this area before."

"So how did they get here? And what are they up to? We have never seen these types before."

A console in front of Hachi beeped.

"Orders from Papa, we are not to send Reaper 1. Punishment for what happened in the Lab."

They won't take this well."

…

Nana was right, Reaper 1 did not take it well at all, they were lucky there wasn't any nonvital equipment within the room, Reaper would have crushed it.

"Fine, we will say behind. But, if they are in danger of being overwhelmed or they approach the Garden we will interfere." Crow said, orders from their master superseded Papa's after all.

"I highly doubt that will happen." Nana said.

As Squad 13 raced forward to engage the Klaxosaurs, Hiro felt that something was wrong. The Klaxosaurs were paying no attention to them.

"Guys, am I the only one who feels something is off here?" Hiro said.

"What do you mean?" Goro said.

"At this range, the Klaxosaurs will have usually noticed us due to the high concentration of Magma Energy our FranXX have. But these ones are totally ignoring us." Hiro said.

"I'm sure it's just coincidence." Zorome said.

As the group prepared to engage the Klaxosaurs did something odd. They dodged around them.

"Huh?" Argentea said.

"After them!" Delphinium shouted and began to pursue, the others following.

"Damn they are fast!" Argentea said, they were losing ground, and losing it fast.

Then in the distance they saw the walls of the Garden appear.

"Faster you guys! They are headed for the walls!" Genista said and began to pour on the speed but it wasn't enough.

"No!" Strelitiza said as the leading Klaxosaur was preparing to breach the wall.

The Klaxosaur was suddenly cut in half, a fountain of blue blood appearing. Reaper and his squad then landed in front of the wall, only then did the Klaxosaurs stop.

"Reaper! What the hell is going on?" Delphinium asked.

"I don't know. You guys take care of the rearmost ones, we will take care of these." Reaper said as the Klaxosaurs began to charge.

The Klaxosaurs were easily dealt with but Goro noticed something strange. Unless they were directly attacked, the Klaxosaurs ignored their squad, choosing to focus on Reaper and his squad.

" _That was too easy."_ Black Rose said.

"Reaper, why were they focusing on you guys?" Genista said.

"I don't know." Reaper said slowly. "You guys head back to the plantation, we are gonna stay out for a bit."

"Negative, Reaper. You weren't supposed to go out to begin with. Return to base." Hachi said.

As Squad 13 headed back to the plantation Reaper zeroed in on the command's channel.

"Hachi, something is not right here. You don't send 5 Moho classes to attack a place like the Garden, the exterior cannons could have easily handled them, but they did not fire when they began to approach the walls. Something is off here, and I have a feeling that they were just scouts. We are going to stay out for a bit just to be sure."

"Fine, you have one hour." Hachi said and closed the connection.

…

Half an hour later, Reaper saw snow flying on the horizon. As the cloud approached, it parted to reveal a Gutenberg class Klaxosaur, similar to the horse ones from earlier, walking at a dignified pace toward the Garden.

"I knew it. They were just a vanguard." Reaper said.

" _A cocky one isn't it?"_ Lotus said.

"Indeed." Crow said.

"Black Rose to command, come in command." Reaper said.

"What is it R-01?" one of the communications officers replied.

"Inform Nana and Hachi that there is one Gutenberg Klaxosaur on approach to the plantation. Approximately 19 clicks (12 miles) out and closing."

"Understood R-01. Do you need Squad 13's support?"

"Negative."

"Understood. Command out."

Black Rose summoned Nightmare and waited for the Klaxosaur to approach. A few minutes later Hachi's voice sounded over the comms.

"Reaper, status?"

"Target is 8 clicks (5 miles) out and still on approach. Preparing to engage. Variant seems to be similar to the ones from earlier." Reaper could hear Ichigo and Alpha talking in the background. "And tell that arrogant asshole if he lays a hand on Ichigo I will rip the offending arm off."

Hachi couldn't help but chuckle. "I will. Take no risks Reaper 1, this one seems too full of itself to be similar to the others."

"Understood." Reaper replied, and they advanced.

…

As Reaper 1 approached the Klaxosaur, it stopped moving and seemed to be watching them. Once they got within a few thousand feet of it they stopped as the Klaxosaur bowed to them. Black Rose looked at the others in confusion, and Lotus just shrugged. They turned back toward the Klaxosaur and bowed back. It then nodded and settled into a defensive stance.

"A Klaxosaur with honor? This is new." Crow said, there was no mistaking what just happened.

"That's not possible, they are mindless beasts, aren't they?" Raven asked.

"Focus. We deal with one issue at a time." Black Rose said.

The battle continued as normal with no further oddities occurring. It wasn't until Reaper stabbed its core that the Klaxosaur began to act strangely again. It locked eyes with Reaper, seemly looking through Black Rose and straight into Reaper's eyes. It then bowed the best it could in its current state before collapsing. Some type of file was then uploaded to the FranXX.

"Shit." Reaper began to try and isolate the file in case it was a trojan, but he didn't make it. A message popped up on the console before Reaper.

" _Hello, love."_ Was all it said.

Data then began to stream across the console and Reaper quickly set it to download to his communicator in an isolated folder. As Reaper read the information as it flew by, Reaper's face settled into one of rage. He isolated the comms to just his squad for a moment.

"Reaper Alpha, we've been had." Reaper said, throwing away the designation given to them by that liar.

"What are you talking about Reaper?" Snake said.

"Everything we were told by APE was a lie. The Klaxosaurs are a sentient species. Those cores we've been destroying? They are the members of the Klaxo-sapian race that have converted themselves into biomechanicals. The Magma Energy we have been using? That is the souls of their dead, they give life to the Earth. We have been committing genocide this entire time, with every Klaxosaur we've killed." Reaper said.

Reaper Alpha was disgusted with themselves. For years they thought they were on the right side of this war, that they were defending humanity against those who sought to kill them for simply existing. They had been played by Papa like a damn fiddle.

"What do we do Reaper?" Black Rose asked.

"First, we cycle our power source for the FranXX to full Shadow Energy, eliminate all traces of Magma Energy from the FranXX. Secondly, master's word is law. He gave us an order, we follow it. If the children go out on a mission, we go out on a mission. Any orders from that liar are to be ignored." Reaper said, he then sent the information that he had obtained from the Klaxosaur to the others and opened the channel back up.

"Reaper 1, respond!" Nana shouted.

"We are alright Nana, just had some comms trouble. The Klaxosaur was carrying some type of virus. It attempted to upload it to the FranXX's systems when I stabbed its core. It's been dealt with." Reaper said.

"Are you sure?" Hachi said.

"I'm sure. It's been isolated and destroyed."

"Very well, return to base." Hachi said.

"I want those cores cycled tonight." Reaper said on a private link with his squad.

* * *

 **A/N:** Dun dun dunnnnn. Reaper and his squad have finally learned the truth. What will Papa think when he hears about this? And who sent that data with the Klaxosaur in the first place? These questions, and more, will be answered in the next chapter. Anyways, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	17. Chapter 17:The Gran Crevasse

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 17: First battle of the Gran Crevasse

Happy Thanksgiving, even though its a day late...

* * *

A dust storm was raging outside of Plantation 13. It reflected Reaper's mood perfectly, as they were headed to their final destination, the Gran Crevasse. They were currently meeting in the briefing room to receive intel about the upcoming mission. Zero Two was oddly absent.

"This mission has one objective, taking control of the area known as the Gran Crevasse." Hachi said. "The Fourth United Company is currently carrying out attacks, but due to Klaxosaur resistance, they are making no inroads."

On screen, there was a massive circle surrounded by several smaller circles which represented the plantations. You could easily fit several plantations within the circle.

"Squad 13 is to group up with the squads from four other plantations and take part of the mission as the Sixth United Company." Hachi said.

Nana then spoke. "Reaper 1, you are to deploy as your own unit. Previous battles have proven that you can handle yourselves without support, so you will be trying to thin the Klaxosaur resistance."

"We deploy with Squad 13." Crow said.

"Papa…" Hachi said before Reaper growled loudly.

"This is not up for debate." Reaper said. "Where is Zero Two?"

Nana and Hachi paled a bit. They had hoped he would not notice her absence. Squad 13 began to look around as well, now realizing that Hiro was there but Zero Two was not.

"She has been recalled to the 9's." Nana said.

"What?" Reaper growled. "Then why is Hiro still here?"

"Code 016 is not a 9. Thus, he was not recalled with her." Hachi said.

Before Reaper could question why, Kokoro raised a hand.

"Umm, what exactly is in the Gran Crevasse?"

Nana and Hachi looked at each other before nodding.

"This might prove shocking to some of you but take a look." Nana said.

The screen then changed to show what was happening at the Gran Crevasse. Detonations were occurring outside of a massive black wall, Klaxosaurs were pouring out by the hundreds from the wall. The screen then changed and showed several destroyed plantations and parasites struggling against the endless horde.

Reaper was damn near bearing his teeth. This wasn't a battle, this was slaughter.

"This battle is clearly on a different scale then all our others." Mitsuru said.

"Claiming the Gran Crevasse is Papa's long-standing wish. This battle could be the turning point in humanity's history." Hachi said as the feed continued to run.

 _*Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!*_

Everyone's head whipped toward Reaper and his squad. Reaper had crushed the railing he was holding on to with his hand. He and his squad were staring in fury at what was on the screen.

"Zero Two." Goro said.

Strelitiza was shown on the screen in its Rampage mode with the 9s.

"That liar, sent her out, without a stamen!" Reaper roared.

"Reaper! Calm down!" Nana shouted.

"No." Reaper said, and he and his squad advanced toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Hachi said.

"To deploy." Reaper replied.

"Reaper 1 wait!" Nana said and stepped forward to stop them.

"Nana, this will be your one warning." Owl said as Reaper and the rest of his squad stormed out the door. "Stay the fuck out of our way."

…

 **APE HQ**

"She devoured them all? I should have known." An APE said.

They were watching a screen showing Strelitiza in her Rampage state. Dr. Franxx, who had been unfrozen after several hours, was also in attendance.

"Silly hellcat."

"We are almost there. If we can take over the Gran Crevasse, we may finally have our wish!" said an APE.

"Hringhorni's construction is proceeding smoothly, too."

"If we have them both, we can bury those pests once and for all."

"The time has come!"

Dr. Franxx turned and began to walk away.

"Where are you going Warner?"

"I can't sit around here. I want to watch it all happen from a front-row seat." He said and walked out the door.

"That man's obsession with Reaper 1 and his squad is going to be the death of him."

"Speaking of Reaper 1 they are about to enter the field"

"This ought to be interesting."

…

"What is the plan Reaper?" Crow asked.

"Until Squad 13 enters the field we watch Strelitiza's back. Kill anything that gets in the way. Release state is authorized."

"Understood." They replied, and they charged toward the horde of Klaxosaurs and began to carve a path toward Strelitiza.

As they approached her position, they saw the 9s dealing with several Klaxosaurs in front of them. Reaper sent a shadow wave out annihilating the Klaxosaurs that the 9s were dealing with.

"Out of the way asshole!" Reaper said and shoved Alpha's FranXX aside.

Alpha watched as they continued to carve a path through the Klaxosaurs. He shook his head.

"You have so much power, yet you use it to defend such weaklings."

Black Rose suddenly appeared in front of Alpha, Rampage mask down so he couldn't see her face.

"Watch your fucking mouth unless you wish to die." Reaper said, and Black Rose teleported away.

After about an hour, Reaper saw that Squad 13 had entered the fray.

"13 is on the field. As much I hate to say this, leave the 9s to defend Strelitiza and fall back to Squad 13." Reaper said and jumped off the 2-mile-high mound of dead Klaxosaurs he had been standing on.

As Reaper and his squad approached 13's position, he saw Alpha land behind Delphinium.

"Hey, so that's your FranXX. How adorable." Alpha said.

"Gee, thanks." Ichigo said.

As Alpha was about to make another comment, Black Rose came flying in from the left and kicked Alpha's FranXX in the face, sending it flying. She then obliterated the horde of Klaxosaurs that was in front of Alpha with a shadow wave.

"Get back to your damn squad. They are our responsibility." Snake said to Alpha.

The hood fell back off their faces as the rest of Reaper Alpha showed up.

"Reaper! What is the sit rep?" Delphinium said with relief on her face.

"We are holding them off just fine, but we are getting nowhere. The Crevasse is sealed off inside that dome, but it can only be destroyed from the inside. We need to clear the way to an entrance."

"Right, let's go. Argentea and Genista follow my lead! Chlorophytum, provide covering fire!" Delphinium said, and they ran off.

" _Strelitiza!"_ Black Rose shouted across the battlefield, causing the rampaging FranXX to look up from where it was ripping apart some unfortunate Klaxosaur.

Black Rose waived and pointed toward the door 13 was racing toward. Strelitiza turned her head toward the door then nodded and took off. Reaper then felt a chill run down his spine and Death whispered in his ear the three words that would send the Klaxosaurs running.

" _Limiter removal authorized."_

"Squad 13 fall back." Reaper said.

"What?" Delphinium said in shock.

"It's only temporarily. I don't want you guys to get hit by what comes next."

"What?"

"Reaper Alpha, the order has been given. Full limiter removal has been authorized. Master is done playing around."

"Limiter removal?" Argentea asked, as shadow gathered around Reaper 1.

The shadow condensed and exploded outward covering the field. As it passed over them, Squad 13 was filled with a sense of dread and got the feeling that whatever a full limiter removal was, it was not a good thing.

When the shadow lifted, Squad 13 stared in shock. Reaper 1 was outside their FranXX, but the FranXX were still moving. Power was pouring off of Reaper and his squad casing nearby Klaxosaurs to be obliterated. Reaper lifted Harvester, which was dripping with liquid shadow, and swung it to the right, sending out a massive shadow wave that annihilated about a thousand Klaxosaurs in one swing. He then slammed the butt of Harvester into the ground, in front of him a doorway of shadow appeared and out of it came an army of shadow creatures, which flooded onto the field, destroying any Klaxosaur in sight. Reaper then walked forward causing him to levitate and he released Harvester which, by its own volition, hovered in midair and began to orbit in a circle around Reaper, spinning end over end. A column of shadow appeared around him so that only his red eyes were able to be seen.

Owl had raised her hands with Queen floating between them before she threw her hands apart and summoned a localized blizzard with her at the center, freezing any Klaxosaur that approached in a block of ice. Crow and Raven had combined their powers to make a tornado of electric death, which sucked in anything that got within 20 feet of them. The temporal continuity was warping around Snake. Things would age to dust before reversing back to their original state, as if time itself couldn't make up its mind of what it wanted to do. Two unfortunate Klaxosaurs experienced this when they got too close, one was aged until it turned into a fine powder while the other was unmade from existence. The area around Cypress had turned into a toxic wasteland as her poison killed anything it touched.

"Squad 13, to me! We will make you a path!" Reaper shouted as they advanced across the field.

"Reaper, what…." Delphinium said.

" _This is why they are the fourth most powerful beings in the universe."_ Black Rose said.

"What? Who are you?" Genista asked.

" _My apologies, I'm Black Rose, and these two are Lotus and Digitalis. We are Reaper Alpha's FranXX."_ Black Rose said.

"How?" Argentea said.

" _When you have as much power as they do, there tends to be runoff, we are the result."_ Lotus said, the other parasites around the Gran Crevasse were staring at the display of power in awe.

" _Even now they are holding back, their true full power would obliterate the planet. We had better catch up with them. Just follow behind them and kill anything that makes it through to the other side."_ Digitalis said. Squad 13 just numbly followed, shocked that Reaper 1 held so much power.

The hordes of Klaxosaurs were uselessly throwing themselves at Reaper Alpha in the vain attempt to stop them, ignoring all other players on the field. It was like watching ants trying to fight an anteater, they were being destroyed by their power. They had just reached one of the entryways when the earth trembled. The earth where Plantation 26 was located began to rise, causing the plantation to tilt sideways and fall off. As it impacted the ground, the metal of the plantation was unable to support the weight of it falling and buckled, Reaper then saw a glow start in the center of the plantation. It rapidly expanded outward as the core went critical and detonated, killing all those inside.

"Super Lehmann Class!" Reaper shouted as the smaller Klaxosaurs began to flee.

The Klaxosaur was so large it easily dwarfed the plantations, it had been stationary for so long that a mountain had grown on its back. The Klaxosaur rose out of the ground and began to make a B-line for Plantation 13.

"Back in the FranXX." Reaper said, and they began to return to their FranXX.

As they were doing so, Reaper heard over the comms,

"Execute protocol 666, Squad 26" Papa said.

"Did you say Protocol 666?" 090 asked.

"Is there a problem?" Papa said.

"N-no."

"Code 090, this is a great honor, you know."

"I understand."

" _What are you making them do you liar?"_ Reaper thought as he got in his FranXX.

"The Super Lehmann class will make contact with Plantation 13 in T-minus 4 minutes."

"Nana! Hachi! Get out of there!" Reaper shouted as they raced forward in their FranXX to try and stop it.

Reaper then saw the members of Squad 26 were standing in front of the Super Lehmann class holding several Magma Energy cores.

"What are you fools doing?" Snake asked.

As the treads of the Klaxosaur approached their position, 090 responded.

"Executing protocol 666. It's been an honor serving with you all." The cores that they were carrying began to glow a bright yellow.

"YOU IDIOTS, NO!" Reaper shouted but it was too late.

The cores they were carrying detonated, killing Squad 26 in the process. The Super Lehmann class stopped moving but its head was leaning forward to pierce Plantation 13.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL, WHAT DID IT ACCOMPLISH?!" Reaper roared at Papa in rage.

Reaper then raised Nightmare and pointed it above the Super Lehmann class and shadow energy began to gather above it. Just as Reaper was about to obliterate the Klaxosaur with a shadow laser, he was knocked aside by a black and blue FranXX. The Super Lehmann's head then pierced Plantation 13, it opened its mouth and thousands of Conrad class Klaxosaurs poured out.

"O-Our home." Futoshi cried.

"No." Lotus whimpered.

" _STRELITZIA!"_ Black Rose roared. _"KILL THEM!"_

Strelitiza snarled and made her way into Plantation 13 through the hole the Klaxosaur made.

"Traitor!" Owl snarled at the unknown blue and black FranXX.

"Squad 13, go defend your home. Lotus, Digitalis, you six back them up." Reaper said.

"What are you going to do?" Genista asked.

"Deal with this traitor." Reaper growled, and Black Rose cracked her knuckles, the others then jumped inside the Plantation.

The sound of a successful connection was heard. Reaper looked down at his console and saw that he and Owl had achieved perfect synchronization, something that had never been accomplished before.

 _*Perfect synchronization achieved. Activating perfection state*_

The color bled out of Black Rose. Her hood went up and the battle mask descended before it too blacked out, leaving only the burning red eyes. She grew claws on her hands and small horns on her head. The form was not complete, some work needed to be done but it was terrifying enough.

"Alright you traitor, let's see how well you handle a Shinigami." Reaper said, wielding Nightmare.

The black and blue FranXX summoned a scythe as well using the same method as Reaper and his squad. It had a glowing white blade and a forest green handle with leaves on it. The FranXX twirled it about herself before settling into a defensive stance.

…

Alarms were blaring in the command center. Operatives were rushing about doing what they were told as Nana and Hachi gave orders.

"Raise the bulwarks! If we lose this place, we're done for!" Nana ordered.

"Agreed. Neutralizing the Super Lehmann class is our top priority. Papa and the others will take care of the Gran Crevasse." Hachi said.

Amidst all this, stood Hiro and Dr. Franxx. They had been in awe at the display of power that Reaper Alpha had shown and had not realized that the other was there. When Hiro did, he slowly began to back away from the doctor.

"I'm not going to hurt you anymore, boy."

Hiro huffed, refusing to believe it.

"Think what you will. During the time it took for them to thaw me out of the ice Owl had put me in, it gave me time to reevaluate what I was doing with my life. And reflect on what I had done wrong. I took the time and saw how many lives I've destroyed, how many lines I've crossed in the name of science. It is quite obvious to me that you remember what I did to you, as well as the things you saw with Zero Two as a child. I do not expect your forgiveness for what I have done. I have been a foolish old man, and it is time I make amends for what I have done."

"Doctor, it isn't safe here. Please return to HQ." Nana said to him. "You return to the Birdcage, too, Hiro."

"Look at her, don't you find her far more beautiful than any human?" Dr. Franxx said, gesturing to the rampaging Strelitiza. "Pure, proud, and more alone than any of us all. She is like a Klaxosaur through and through."

"My Zero Two is not a Klaxosaur." Hiro protested.

Dr. Franxx then looked back at him. "Then prove me wrong."

…

Outside, Black Rose was fighting with everything she had, and was winning. The rouge FranXX couldn't match the power and precision that the Perfected State FranXX had.

"You filthy traitor! I'm going to crush the two of you when I'm finished with you!" Black Rose said.

The opposing FranXX said nothing and continued to fight, although it was quickly becoming a losing battle. Black Rose landed several more slices on the FranXX before striking its core, taking it offline. Reaper and Owl exited their FranXX and approached the Rouge FranXX. Reaper was dragging Harvester across the ground behind him, leaving a trail of liquid shadow. He couldn't wait to harvest their souls, he hoped his master would condemn them to eternal damnation for this.

As the rouge's cockpit opened and the pilots stepped out, Reaper and Owl stopped and stared in shock.

"No, it can't be you. Your dead." Reaper said, her hair was different, and she was wearing a different cloak, but she looked like his Havana.

"You're not him. You can't be him. He is gone." Owl said in shock, he had forest green hair and was more muscular, but it looked like James.

"Hello love. It's been a while." The girl said in a soft voice, she even sounded like her!

"Owl, your just as beautiful as I remember you to be." The man said.

Reaper then closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.

"So, you damn things would stoop so low as to use my wife's image against me? Well, I won't stand for it." Reaper then raised Harvester against the woman. "I won't let you corrupt her memory any further."

"James is dead. The fact that you are using his image to attack me is a stain upon his honor. I will eliminate you for that transgression." Owl said, and she faced off against the James look-alike.

"Reaper, my love, it's me, Havana." The woman said trying to reason with him.

"Come on, Owl, please, just hear us out." The man pleaded. "I don't want to fight you."

"No." Owl said.

"Prepare to die." Reaper growled and fired a shadow wave at the woman which she dodged.

When she landed the woman summoned a scythe out of a shadow portal, it was a dual bladed, glowing white scythe with a purple handle.

"You are even using her scythe Light. A scythe I made sure I destroyed." Reaper said, he then ran forward, fully intending to slice this woman to pieces.

The woman dodged every slash he sent her way. Every shadow wave or shadow minion was thwarted by several blades of shadow infused light.

"You're even using her attacks. How dare you."

"Reaper, honey, please, stop trying to attack me and let us explain. It really is me." She said.

"YOUR NOT HER!" Reaper screamed. "I CRIED OVER HER BROKEN BODY FOR TWO DAYS AFTER WE FOUND HER! I WENT TO OUR MASTER TO BRING HER BACK, BUT SHE WAS GONE! I WATCHED AS THEY BURNED HER BODY! I SCATTERED HER ASHES AT THE BEACH IN THAT RUINED CITY! SHE IS DEAD! YOU'RE. NOT. HER!" Reaper punctuated each sentence with a shadow wave, by the end of it tears were running down his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Reaper saw that Owl had been defeated and was being restrained by the James look-alike. He gently nuzzled her hair.

"Stop that! Only James was allowed to do that." she protested.

"Owl, it's me. You know it is, you just don't believe it." The man said as he continued to nuzzle her hair.

"DIE, DAMN IT!" Reaper shouted as he continued to slash at her.

The woman sighed. "You've left me no choice, love. I have to injure you enough so that you will listen."

She then held out Light and said two words,

"Light barrage."

"Oh shit." The James look-alike said.

Columns of light rained down on Reaper from the heavens, causing him to scream in pain. When the attack finished, Reaper had been driven to his knees, but refused to back down.

"Reaper!" Owl shouted and tried to escape her captor's grasp.

"He needs to learn, Owl. She won't kill him. Calm down." He said, nuzzling her hair, trying to get her to quit struggling.

Reaper used Harvester to help him stand up and glared hatefully at the woman in front of him. She sighed and spoke again, raising Light.

"Piercing Light."

Reaper was then pierced by 8 spears of light from all directions. Reaper coughed blood and was driven to his hands and knees, struggling to stand. Knowing he did not have the energy to assault her again, the woman banished light and walked forward until she reached him. She knelt down to his level and described an event that only she would know. Their marriage.

"Normandy." She said, causing him to pause. "June 26, 2032. It was a warm summer day and we could hear the ocean from the church. It was only you, me, the General, my aunt, the priest, and our immediate family. The others in our squad never knew because we didn't have time to tell them. The ceremony was short but sweet. On that day I took your name and became…"

"Havana Robin Wilson." Reaper said, his eyes widened with shock.

Only Havana would know when that event occurred. Everyone else who knew about it was dead. He looked to her left hand. The woman pushed up her sleeve and Reaper saw the diamond ring he got her on her hand. He looked at her face in shock.

"It's really me Reaper. I never left you." She said with a smile.

Reaper grabbed Havana in a tight hug and sobbed into her chest. She petted his head and kept muttering to him that she was here, and she was never going to leave again. Owl was released, and she turned to face James in shock.

James smiled. "I wasn't lying when I said it was me."

Owl slapped him before pulling him into a kiss. After getting himself together Reaper did the same. He kissed Havana like there was no tomorrow. After breaking for air, he pulled her back into a hug and whispered in her ear,

"My Havana, my sweet, sweet Havana, you've returned to me."

"Yes Reaper, I have. And I'm never leaving you again."

The moment was then broken by Death.

" _Havana, James, how are you?"_ Death asked.

"Oh shit, master." James whispered.

" _I'm going to want a full explanation as to how you two are alive sometime very soon. However, you currently have bigger issues to deal with."_

The Klaxosaur took that opportunity to attempt to move one of its treads causing a loud groaning sound to be heard.

"Right, you." Reaper said, glaring at the Klaxosaur for interrupting.

" _We will talk later Havana, James."_ Death's presence then vanished.

"Alright then, let's deal with…" Reaper started to say before an explosion rocked the area.

"What the…" Owl said.

Off in the distance Reaper could see that the plantations were driving themselves onto the Gran Crevasse and detonating themselves.

"Papa…all those souls lost!" Havana said.

Reaper then hacked into APE HQ's communications network and opened a link to Papa.

"Who is this?" Papa demanded.

"Papa." Reaper said in a deadly voice.

"Reaper." Papa said back.

"I'm going to enjoy the day I harvest your soul. You have just made 8 very powerful enemies. If you watched even a tenth of this battle the you should realize that there is no force in this universe that can stop us. You best enjoy these next few weeks, because your days are numbered." Reaper said and cut the link.

The Super Lehmann class roared in agony as it began to explode, out of the back came a red Strelitiza who had the most exuberant smile on her face.

Reaper smiled. "Good job Hiro."

The Perfected Strelitiza then rocketed off toward the Gran Crevasse mowing down anything that stood in their way and entered one of the doors. The seal began to glow, but the dome refused to break.

"Shall we my love?" Reaper asked, and Havana nodded.

"Let's." she replied.

Holding hands, the two raised their scythes, Havana's glowed a bright white while Reapers glowed a dark red.

"Heaven's Judgement!"

A beam of black and white descended from the heavens and struck the dome causing it to shatter. A beam of white and red blasted back out of the dome, causing the clouds that had covered the area for so long to part and reveal a bright blue sky.

The Klaxosaurs began to flee from the area in mass as the Perfected Strelitiza flew out of the Gran Crevasse. Squad 13 and Reaper Alpha exited Plantation 13 and stared about in awe before their eyes landed on the two figures beside Reaper and Owl.

"Cypress," Snake said. "tell me my eyes are deceiving me."

"No, old friend, they are not." Cypress said with a smile.

"It can't be." Raven said.

"Reaper, are you…smiling?" Crow asked. "I haven't seen that big of a smile on your face in years."

"That I am Crow, that I am." Reaper said.

"What are you guys talking about? Who are those two?" Genista asked.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Havana and James, our squad's two missing members." Owl said.

Everyone's jaw dropped. Including Nana and Hachi's who had just walked up.

"How?" Nana asked staring at the woman who Reaper had lost so many years ago.

"I don't know and frankly, right now, I don't care." Reaper said as he kissed Havana again.

Suddenly a humming sound was heard from the remains of the Super Lehmann class. Turning their heads everyone saw that the core was beginning to pulsate.

"They won't let it end so easily, huh." Crow said looking at the core.

"Is that a collective mass of cores?" Goro asked.

"Yup, due to the size of them, Super Lehman Classes take a lot of energy to operate, thus the need for extra cores." Reaper said. "We need to leave, those cores are going to blow, and we don't want to get caught in the blast."

As they turned to leave, they heard a large roar and a massive hand rose out of the Gran Crevasse.

"Wow," Alpha said. "Instant reaction."

As the hand began to descend, Reaper knew that there was no way they would get out of the way in time. A shadowy haze covered the area and suddenly everyone was about 3 miles away from the hand, Havana was having to support Reaper however, as he was breathing heavy.

"Damn…that took more…out of me…than I thought it would." Reaper said in between breaths.

The massive hand fell, crushing the collective of cores as well as Plantation 13. As the hand dragged itself back into the Gran Crevasse, the only thing left standing was the column that supported the Birdcage as well as the Birdcage itself. Everything else was destroyed.

"The-the plantation." Futoshi said.

"It's gone." Ikuno said.

"Some still remains. You have the spire, as well as the Birdcage itself, all is not lost." Havana said.

"There's my eternal optimist." Reaper said smiling at Havana.

"Who is she?" Alpha asked approaching, everyone else had gotten out of their FranXX's and were approaching their location.

"Who she is, is none of your damn business Alpha. Go back to your precious Papa before I rip your head off in his stead." Reaper said standing in front of Havana.

"Tch, fine. We will meet again, barbarian." Alpha said as he walked off.

"I'm sure we will." Reaper said.

Havana was glaring at Alpha, how dare he call her love a barbarian.

"Love, who was that?" she asked

"An asshole." Owl replied.

Havana frowned at her. "You have gotten colder since I've been gone."

"We've all changed Havana." Cypress said. "But I'm glad to have you back."

"It's good to see you too, Cypress."

Crow then walked up to her and fluffed Havana's hair.

"Hey! Stop that! Your messing up my hair!" she protested.

Snake walked over to James and socked him in the arm.

"Don't you dare disappear again, you hear me? Do you know how hard it was to break into your library without the code?"

James laughed. "How long did it keep you out?"

"Two damn weeks."

"I'm surprised, I thought you would have cracked it in a week."

"Yeah well…" Snakes eyes trailed over to Reaper who had his arms wrapped possessively around Havana.

"How bad was he?"

"Bad. We lost him for two years."

"Jeez. Havana is not going to like that."

Then Crow walked over and looked James up and down.

"We are going to have to get you a new cloak. Black and blue does not suit you."

James smiled. "If you've got one then by all means, I'll take it."

"Alright children, head back to the Birdcage and standby for orders. Havana, James, unfortunately we do not have rooms for you right now at the manor so…" Nana started to say.

"Not a problem." Reaper said.

"But…"

"Not. A. Problem." Reaper said again.

"*Sigh* Fine. You are dismissed." Nana said as she and Hachi walked toward the transport that had landed nearby.

"Manor?" Havana asked.

"You'll see."

"Hey Reaper, don't get to rowdy tonight, yeah? We would like to get some sleep you know." Snake said with a chuckle.

"I haven't had a full willful night's sleep in over six years, and besides, I would never do such a thing where children could hear it." Reaper said with a raised eyebrow.

"What?! Six years?!" Havana screeched.

"Unfortunately, he's not lying Havana. Reaper hasn't slept in the past six years unless his body has collapsed, or we pester him enough to, even then he only sleeps for 2 to 3 hours at the most. He has taken up meditating to make up for it." Owl said.

Havana looked at him furious before grabbing his ear and dragging him toward the elevator.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow. Havana, love, that hurts. Ow!" Reaper complained.

"You are coming with me and getting a proper night's sleep, even if I have to hit you over the head with Light!" she said.

"But Havanaaaaaaaa!"

Everyone laughed and began to follow behind the two.

 **A/N:** and there we go. So, Havana and James have returned! The Princess is not going to be happy when she realizes that they abandoned her. What do you think will happen to Papa when Reaper get ahold of him? Send me your guesses! As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	18. Chapter 18: Learning to Live

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 18: Learning to Live

The Klaxosaur Princess was pissed. Not only had she lost the Star Child, but her daughter and son had abandoned her as well! She specifically told them not to engage in the battle! Yet the moment she turned her back, the two had hopped in their FranXX and engaged Reaper in battle and lost! And they had revealed that they were alive to them to boot! The Princess shuddered as she recalled the display of power that Reaper and his squad displayed. So much power. How were their bodies not torn apart from the energy that they contained? Even H and J were holding back on her! She had never seen that attack she used to call light beams from the heavens, and that last attack 'Heaven's Judgement', the amount of power contained within that combined attack. What were those two? There was no way they were simply humans who knew umbrakinesis.

…

Nana was not happy. They had taken their FranXX, she was sure of it. They were in those repair bays when she left last night. Yet this morning several technicians came running up to her, telling her that Reaper 1's FranXX were missing from their bays, as well as the black and blue FranXX they had recovered. Not only that, but five, _five_ , of their spare FranXX were dismantled as well, nothing left but a few parts and the Magma Energy cores left in a pile. Nothing on the cameras either, not a damn thing! How, in the hell, had they gotten in and out without being seen? This was a secure facility for Papa's sake! How had no one seen 4 large FranXX just walking out the door?!

…

 **Earlier that night**

"Owl, toss me a servo!" Reaper shouted from inside the newly named Narcissus's leg.

He and Owl were fixing and retrofitting Narcissus, the FranXX that James and Havana piloted. Reaper held out a hand and a servo landed in it and Reaper installed it into her leg.

"Reaper, it's not a good idea for you to be doing this. You should be sleeping. If Havana wakes up and you're not there, she is going to kill you." Owl said.

"I'll be fine. This needs to be done now, we don't know when the next battle will be, and we need to be ready. Besides, I got 6 hours of sleep, I'll be fine." Reaper said.

"It's 2 in the morning, Havana is not going to see it that way."

"It will be fine. I'll be back in bed before…"

The elevator door opened, and a pissed off Havana stepped outside along with James. Havana's hair was floating and glowing white.

"Reaper." Havana growled.

"Oh shit." Reaper cursed.

"Reaper, I would run if I were you." James said.

"Noted!" Reaper shouted and jumped down off of Narcissus and began to run.

"Get back here Reaper! Your supposed to be asleep with me!" Havana shouted and began to chase after him.

"James! Help Owl finish!" Reaper said as he was glowing black and running up the side of the spire.

Havana growled, and she glowed white before free flying after him and grabbing him off the spire.

"Havana! I have things I need to do!"

"It's 2 in the morning. Your ass belongs in bed with me. Anything else can wait until the sun comes up." Havana said and flew back into the birdcage.

James chuckled and walked over to where Owl was standing. In the distance, he could see Black Rose and the others guarding the spire.

"So that's where you two went to. I'm guessing that their free movement was due to master?" James asked.

Owl nodded and James wrapped her arms around her and began to nuzzle her hair.

"Its two in the morning and your cold. Can't this wait until morning?" James asked trying to convince her to go back inside and join him in bed.

"Ngggh. Stop that." She moaned. "This needs to get done now, we could be entering battle in the morning and we need all the help we can get."

"The Klaxosaurs suffered a heavy blow. They will retreat for a while, there is no need to rush."

"But the parts…" Owl protested, her resolve was weakening under his ministrations.

James then stored the piles of parts in the shadow realm. "There, taken care of."

"The FranXX…"

"Your FranXX can keep it safe until morning."

"Ngggh." she moaned again. "Fine, fine."

James then picked her up bridal style and carried her inside. All the way back to her room, Owl's face was flushed red.

…

The next morning, Reaper and Owl had finished rebuilding Narcissus. There was going to be a bit of a shuffle, as Reaper and Owl wanted to pilot with their respective lovers. Reaper and Havana now piloted Black Rose while Owl and James piloted Narcissus, both of their Paracapacity scores were just under the max.

When that was done, Reaper Alpha went to Reaper's room to have a discussion as to what happened to Havana and James.

As they each took a seat, Crow spoke. "It is time we shared stories."

A chill swept through the room. A shadowy representation of Death appeared and leaned against a wall in the shadows.

" _James, Havana, you go first."_ Death ordered.

"After that beam fell on us we woke up in a black void, there was no one there but us. It took us a bit, but we soon realized that we had died. For some reason, we did not end up at the Castle of Judgement, instead we ended up in the far reaches of the Shadow Realm. When we realized that we had died we… we didn't want to go." Havana said and hung her head, refusing to leave when it was your time was a great sin in Deaths eyes, and Havana and James waited for what Death would say.

" _I'm not going to punish you for wanting to come back. Had you shown up like you were supposed to, I would have brought you back anyway due to the depth of Reaper's sorrow."_

Havana's head jerked up.

" _Finish your tale. They will explain once you are done."_

"After we admitted to each other that we did not want to go we felt a tugging sensation and we were dragged out of the Shadow Realm. When we awoke, Gaia was waiting for us." James said.

" _That bitch."_ Death muttered.

"Gaia?" Reaper asked.

"Gaia is the Klaxosaur Princess, the leader of the Klaxosaurs. When we awoke she told us that she had found us and found that we still had the will to live, so she brought us back. Not in our original bodies, obviously, but to something as close as possible to them. We couldn't reach Master, so we didn't know what to do. She then told us the truth, that humanity was in the wrong. When we believed her, she took us under her wing and proclaimed us her children. We then assisted her in destroying any APE operation that was going on. We kept track of you by accessing the Shadow Network and following the reports of your successful missions." James said.

"Then you disappeared." Havana said.

"Havana searched for 20 years for you after your MIA report came in. Any possible trace of you she went and followed. When command fell, she went through every file they had uploaded to see if you had been given orders to go dark but found nothing. Gaia personally searched for you as well as she was very interested in meeting you but came up empty handed. We spent the following 69 years commanding Klaxosaur forces and trying to destroy APE. That changed a few months ago when you showed up again. Havana was very against sending Colossus after the plantation as she saw it as overkill, but Gaia wanted the plantation destroyed so he went. Then you guys exited your FranXX and completely obliterated him. Why did you do that by the way? He was the only one that you treated that way." James said.

"That son of a bitch was the reason you died. When we first encountered it, it knocked us aside like leaves and the order for limiter removal came too late. That damn thing laughed at us as the support Klaxosaurs ran around our downed bodies and raced toward the city to detonate the core." Reaper said.

"Oh, so that's what happened. Anyway, it was at the conclusion of that battle that I spotted you on the drone camera we sent to observe the battle. Gaia didn't believe that it was you, so she sent several different varieties of Klaxosaurs after you to verify that it was you and you handled them perfectly. We were then ordered to feed you information. All the data that you found in the sub-bases you destroyed was put there by us. The final piece was delivered by Stallion a few days before yesterday's battle. We had been trying for weeks after it was proven to be you to try and talk to you, but Gaia kept telling us no. During yesterday's battle we were given the Ok to observe but not to interfere. When you removed your limiters however, I decided to defy her orders and get us involved. And now, here we are." Havana finished.

Death nodded and stood. _"I will leave it to you to fill them in."_ Death said and vanished.

Crow sighed. "How much of our time here have you seen?"

"Most of your battles as well as Reaper's self-punishment." James answered, Reaper flinched at that last bit.

This reminded Havana of the event and she yanked Reaper's sleeve up and observed the cuts on his wrist, she then slapped him.

"Don't you dare punish yourself for something that was not your fault again, you hear me!" Havana said.

"It was my fault, Havana. I failed to protect you."

She slapped him again. "No, it wasn't! it was not, and will never be, your fault! Stop blaming yourself for something that you had no control over!" Havana said with tears in her eyes.

Reaper pulled Havana into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry for making you cry, my love."

"Baka." She muttered into his chest.

"We've told our story. What is yours? Where did you guys go?" James asked.

"Let's start at your death. After finding your bodies Reaper took them to Master. He begged for two hours for Death to bring you back. When he finally agreed, your souls were gone. When he told Reaper… it broke him. As per your requests, we cremated your bodies and scattered the ashes in your favorite places. Reaper summoned your scythes and destroyed them because he couldn't not bear the thought of someone else using them. For two weeks Reaper tried to grieve. Command never gave him the opportunity as we were being swarmed by Klaxosaur attacks were constantly deployed somewhere. After those two weeks passed, Reaper became Consumed." Crow explained.

"What?" Havana said looking at Reaper, he refused to meet her eyes.

"Reaper attacked any Klaxosaur he came across and destroyed them, the result is the network of scars across his chest and back as he refused to defend himself and was purely offensive. He spent the next two years in that state and it took three squads including us to take him down. After he had calmed down he and Owl spent the next three years in a pit of self-loathing. It was during that time that Reaper got the idea that he should punish himself on the day of your deaths for failing. It was during the fifth year after your death that the Ark Project was started. You do know what that is right?" Snake asked, and James nodded, Havana was still trying to get Reaper to look at her.

"It was at this point that Reaper and Owl were tired. Hell, we all were. We were tired of fighting a war that seemed endless. So, Reaper and Owl went to the commander and asked him to join the project, but he said no, we were too valuable an asset to be frozen. We spent the next three months working on the commander and countering his every argument until he gave in. Knowing that Reaper Command would never go for having one of its most valuable squads frozen, we were given covert orders to join the project. The commander would send in an MIA report 3 months after we were frozen. Then, Ark 03 was completed, and we were interred with the others who had volunteered to be frozen and we slept. Fast forward 89 years and we were awoken by the automated system when the cryopods failed. We awoke, realized that the Ark had failed, and found the world had suffered in our absence. We gathered intel and supplies for two weeks before we were found by Plantation 13. They took us in, tried to indoctrinate us and failed, gave us our FranXX and paired us with Squad 13. We dealt with a Gaia class worm type before the operation in which you found us occurred." Raven said.

"There is one more thing. Did you see the battle that occurred 4 weeks ago?" Cypress asked.

"Cypress." Reaper warned.

"She has the right to know, they both do." Cypress replied before turning to Havana and James.

"No, we didn't see that one. What happened?" James asked.

"Don't." Owl pleaded but she was ignored.

"Then I have the obligation to inform you that, 4 weeks ago Reaper and Owl were Consumed again."

"What!" The two shouted and looked at their respective lovers.

"Reaper had terrified the children earlier when one had the gall to call Reaper a coward and ask him what he knew about loss. Owl coming to his defense didn't help matters so during the battle they decided to ignore their orders." Crow said.

"Those fools." James said, and Cypress nodded.

"They became Consumed and tore the Klaxosaur to shreds with a modified Rampage mode and tried to attack the kids. We were able to stop them but not before sustaining severe injuries and having to run the two through."

Havana felt something drip onto her hand and saw that Reaper was crying.

"Reaper?" Havana asked softly.

"Twice I let my temper get out of hand in one day, and twice I nearly kill a child. I am a monster." He said.

Havana pulled his head in between her breasts and patted his head as he cried.

"You are not a monster, love." Havana said. "Where is this boy? I'm going to beat some sense into him."

"No need Havana. He did not know the circumstances, he does now. Master evidently gave them a dream of what happened to you guys and they came and apologized for acting out of line." Snake said.

"Now that we are all caught up, let's see what the others are up to." James said.

…

 **Time skip: One month**

One month had passed since the Battle of the Gran Crevasse occurred, and things had taken a turn for the worse within the Birdcage. When the massive hand crushed the plantation it also damaged the water supply lines to the Birdcage causing fresh water to no longer be circulated in. Electricity had also been cut. Reaper and his squad were able to build several solar panels, but they provided an extremely limited supply of power, so lights were only turned on at night and only for a few hours. And to top it all off, the invisible caretakers had vanished leaving food at the elevator once a week but that was it.

Reaper and his squad had come up with a chore schedule so things like dish and clothes washing got done fairly. As well as setting up bathing times and who was going on water runs. But things were about to get even worse.

Mitsuru knelt down next to the stream and took out a glass of water.

"No good, the water here is starting to go foul too." He said.

Hiro, who was standing nearby, knelt down as well. "Yeah. It might be drinkable if we filter it though."

"How do we do that?"

"I don't know. Reaper and his squad might know something though, they seem to know quite a bit about situations like this."

"That being said, how long can we last like this? The water supply to this area could stop at any time."

They then heard a banging sound and Zero Two appeared from around a tree.

"Found you. Come on, its breakfast time. Havana made something called pancakes." She said.

Havana seemed to have replaced Nana in terms of being a motherly figure. She did most of the cooking, along with Kokoro, as well as settled any arguments. Reaper replaced Hachi in terms of who was in charge. If ideas or orders were needed, they often went to him for help. He always seemed to have a favorable solution.

"Hey Ikuno, are you feeling better?" Havana asked as she walked into the room.

"Yeah, the fever is still there but I'm used to it now." She replied.

Havana walked over to her and put her hand on her forehead, cheek, and neck. "Your temperature is normal but don't push yourself ok?"

The Child Fever had been running rampant through the Manor starting about 2 weeks ago. At one point everyone was down except, oddly, Reaper and his squad, who insisted on being called Reaper Alpha for some reason. While the children were down with the fever, Reaper and his squad ran the place themselves, doing all the chores and handling the sick children without complaint.

"Zero Two, moderation." Havana chided, stopping Zero Two from dousing her food in honey.

"Sorry Havana."

Havana had been trying to break Zero Two of dousing every inch of her food in honey. She was making progress, but it was slow going.

"What's the matter Futoshi? Not feeling well?" Hiro asked.

"No, I'm just dieting. I need to lose weight." He said.

"Futoshi, I understand if you want to lose weight, but starving yourself is not the way to go about it. You need to eat or else you are going to end up sick again." Reaper said.

…

"It's been one whole month. How long will we have to be on standby?"

Goro and Hiro were in the storeroom sorting through the food supplies that they had.

"Do you want to get back into the FranXX already?" Hiro joked.

"You know, when you are fighting in battles in which you could die at any time, but not fighting makes us fidgety too, huh?" Goro said.

"It's called an adrenaline rush. Piloting the FranXX has made you into a thrill seeker." Snake said from the doorway.

He walked in looking at the two.

"You shouldn't live your life looking forward to the next battle. Instead look forward to moments like these. Moments where there is peace, and conflict is but a distant memory."

"Your acting strangely philosophical Snake." Hiro pointed out.

"I try."

…

The girls were out bathing in the lake. Havana was washing Zero Two's hair while the girls talked about Mitsuru's haircut.

"Did you see Mitsuru's hair?" Miku asked looking at Kokoro.

Kokoro looked worried.

"So, it was you who cut his hair Kokoro. You did a good job." Havana said.

"Thanks." Kokoro said.

"I'm the one who manages Reaper's unruly locks, so I know how hard it can be. Speaking of which, I need to cut his hair soon, it's getting too long. Snake's too, he's starting to look like a girl." Havana began to mumble to herself.

"Is there anything that you don't do?" Ichigo asked.

Havana looked at her. "Well the boys are more mechanically inclined than I am, so there is that."

Zero Two saw a fish go by.

"Fishie!" she cried and lunged forward.

"Get back here." Havana said tugging Zero Two back.

"Your hair is so pretty Havana." Raven said.

"It's almost the same color as Ichigo's." Ikuno said.

"No," she replied, "I think that Ichigo's is a bit darker than mine, but it matches her quite well."

Ichigo thanked her for the complement.

Havana released Zero Two and looked toward Ikuno. "Ikuno, your turn."

"I'm fine." She responded.

Havana raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really I'm fine."

The eyebrow went higher.

"Honestly, I'm good"

The eyebrow went even higher. At this point, Ikuno was beet red and was doing her best not to look at the naked Havana.

"Oh fine." She said and stripped and entered the water.

She walked over to where Havana was and sat down and allowed her to wash her hair.

"There is no shame in liking someone of your own gender." Havana whispered in her ear.

Ikuno turned redder if possible. "Your already taken though." She muttered. "And so is she."

"Is she? Has Goro actually come out and said he loved her? I don't think he has." Havana said back. "And if she is, Snake seems to have his eye on you as well."

"Snake?" Ikuno muttered.

"Yep. Of course," she whispered huskily in her ear "I'm sure Reaper wouldn't mind if you borrowed me for a night or two."

Steam was damn near coming out of Ikuno's ears and Havana was trailing her hands down Ikuno's body. Havana straightened up and continued to wash Ikuno's hair like nothing had happened. Zero Two was chasing Miku around the pond.

"Be careful you two, you will slip." She said.

Havana then noticed something in Ikuno's hair.

"Huh?" she muttered. "White hair?" She pulled out the strands of hair and noticed that there were several more hidden under her hair.

She hid her discovery from Ikuno and continued to wash her hair. She needed to tell Reaper ASAP. Once she was finished, she let her go, but not without one last comment.

"My offer does stand." She whispered in her ear. "I think a few nights with me would be…educational for you. Maybe get Reaper involved as well, show you what it is a man can do."

Ikuno turned pink and walked away, Havana stared at her figure the entire time. _"Not a bad figure. I would definitely like to have fun with that."_

…

Ichigo drew an x on the map of the Birdcage.

"We have around five sources for drinking water. And two of them are only usable by filtering."

"Reaper, is it possible for you to repair the circulation system?" Ikuno asked.

Reaper shook his head. "Even if we cannibalized the other systems, we don't have all the parts necessary to make the repairs. We can easily make shadow constructs of the missing parts, but constructs don't mix well with material objects in the same machine."

"Why?"

"They exist on two different planes of existence. If you put them together, it will cause infighting, resulting in the material objects breaking all the faster." Snake said.

"What about a complete shadow construct?" Miku asked.

"Impractical. To make one big enough to work for what we need, it would take too much energy to make and maintain. A localized machine that only had to move a few thousand gallons an hour I can do. One to move a few million gallons an hour, that is beyond my abilities." Reaper said.

"Why don't we just send a letter to Papa and ask him to fix it?" Zorome asked.

"Zorome, if Papa could have fixed it, don't you think he would have already?" Cypress said.

"Man, I never realized how much we relied on our invisible caretakers." Miku said.

"Yeah, they always made sure we had clean cloths and hot food." Kokoro said.

Havana looked insulted.

"I know that you have been doing your best Havana, but for us to be doing all the work is strange." Kokoro said trying to appease Havana.

Havana cooled and looked at Reaper.

"They have lived a sheltered life all their lives. This is all new to them." Reaper whispered in her ear.

"What would become of us if they stopped delivering food, too?" Miku wondered.

All was silent for a moment, before Reaper answered.

"That's easy, you hunt for your own. The lakes are stocked with fish, so they should last us a while."

"But none of us know how to cook fish." Miku said.

"We were never taught how." Futoshi said.

"Well fortunately for you, we have a professional chef in our squad." Raven said.

"Professional Chef?" Goro asked.

"Yup, I was trained to be a cook for our squad for missions where we had to hunt for ourselves. I can cook anything from simple deserts to a filet mignon to pufferfish, although I doubt any are around anymore." Havana said.

"Pufferfish?" Hiro asked.

"Type of fish, obviously, considered a delicacy to many, myself included, it was quite the feat to be able to cook one properly as they contained poison and could easily kill you if cooked wrong." James said.

"Goro, if I recall correctly, you received several fishing rods a few months ago. Do you have any other fishing equipment?" Reaper asked.

"Yeah, bobbers, hooks, and several different types of bait. Why?" He replied

"Well, why don't we try cooking our own food tonight, instead of what they provide us with?" Reaper suggested.

"I would like to try it." Ichigo said and several of the others nodded.

"That's great an all Reaper but what will we do when we run out of fish?" Zorome asked.

"Zorome, with the number of fish in the lakes I highly doubt we will be here long enough to run out of fish. But in the off chance we do, we simply pull you guys out and make someplace that has food." Reaper said as he pulled out an Eden disk.

"Reaper, where did you get that?" Havana asked as James's eyes narrowed at the sight of the disk.

"We found it in one of our cashes early on. There were only five, so I doubt they were replicated." Reaper said.

"What is that?" Mitsuru asked looking at the disk, to him it just looked like a disk.

"This is an Eden disk, a miracle of science created by me. With one of these, we can make a living zone with food and water to provide us, should we need it." Reaper said.

"Now then," James said. "who wants to go fishing?"

…

"Zero Two, what are you doing?" Reaper said cracking an eye open.

He, Hiro, Goro, and Zero Two offered to go fishing and had arrived about 20 minutes ago. Goro only had three rods so he set up himself, Hiro, and Zero Two with fishing rods. Reaper was using a shadow rod to fish, when he heard the sound of cloth rustling.

Looking over, Reaper saw that Zero Two was halfway undressed and was looking at him. He calmly closed his eye and leaned back against the tree he was sitting against.

"Why are you stripping?"

"What?!" Goro sputtered and quickly turned then looked away his face red.

Hiro looked over to see what the commotion was about and began to stare at the half naked Zero Two.

"Hiro, I know that she is your girlfriend, but it is not polite to stare at a half-dressed woman. Goro, would you like me to purge the image from your mind or cast an illusion that makes her appear fully clothed? Your rod is twitching…both of them."

"How is this not affecting you Reaper?!" Goro complained.

"I've seen my fair share of naked women, hell, I've had them throw themselves at my feet and beg for me. Also, because I am married." Reaper said unconcerned. "You didn't answer my question Zero Two.

Reaper cracked an eye open again to look at Zero Two and saw that she was only wearing her panties at this point and Reaper quickly cast an illusion over Goro's eyes, so he wouldn't become more flustered. Looking back at Zero Two, Reaper saw that she was now completely naked and was approaching him.

"What? Don't like what you see?" she asked and sat on this lap and placed her hands around his neck.

"I will say it again, Zero Two. I am a married man. You do not tempt me. The only thing you are doing is making Hiro more jealous by the minute. Although to most of the parasite your assets are mind-blowing they don't affect me, though I do give you credit for trying. You might want to get up before Havana comes out here to check on us and finds you attempting to take me from her."

"You, are no fun." She pouted and stood up.

"On the contrary, I've been told I'm quite fun to be with, you just couldn't handle me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"If you think it's a challenge, take it up with Havana. You will lose however, she has a lot of experience, you do not. Although not without lack of trying it seems."

By this point, both Hiro and Goro had passed out from the amount of innuendos flying about. Zero Two humphed and dove into the water. _"*sigh* this is going to be a long day."_

…

"Welcome back." Ichigo said as they returned.

"We're back!" Zero Two shouted.

"Wow, what a haul."

"I caught eleven!" Zero Two said with a smile.

"What about you Goro?" Miku asked.

"Two less than Zero Two."

"and Hiro?" Ichigo asked.

"I didn't catch any." Hiro said a bit embarrassed.

"What about you, love?" Havana said from the stove.

"Fourteen." Reaper said.

"Showoff." Zero Two muttered.

"You didn't cheat, did you?" Havana asked, lifting a wooden spoon threateningly.

"No love, I did not."

"Good."

The others clamored around Zero Two wanting to go fishing next and she explained how to fish. Reaper sighed.

"Something wrong hun?" Havana asked.

"No, this just reminds me of better times." Reaper said.

"Yeah, it will be nice to have children of our own someday."

"Someday love, not now. I don't want our children to be raised in a world like this one."

"I know, we have eternity to figure out when we want them. Come on, dear, help be clean and gut these fish."

"Yes, ma'am."

…

"We are incredible!" Zorome said. "We actually cooked for ourselves!"

"Didn't you slack off at first?" Miku asked.

"Now, now Miku, everyone helped in their own way." Havana said.

"The question is how will it taste?" Kokoro said.

"Havana made it, it will taste delicious. Everything else she has made has." Mitsuru said.

"Aww, thanks Mitsuru!" Havana said.

"Take a seat everyone." Ichigo said.

"Don't bother. If we did the work, why should we pray to Papa? Let's eat!" Zorome said.

As the others began to eat Reaper and his squad quietly said their prayers to their master before beginning to eat as well.

"What's the matter Futoshi? Is yours not done right? I can always make another or cook it for a bit longer." Havana asked when she noticed that Futoshi wasn't eating much.

"No, no it's good I'm just… not hungry."

"Futoshi, starving yourself in order for us to have extra food is not helping matters." Reaper said. "You need to eat to live. So, eat."

Zorome then stood up from the table and walked to the breezeway.

"Zorome?" Miku asked concerned.

"Why, why?" Zorome's voice was cracking. "Look at us. Why isn't Papa getting in touch? Why isn't he coming to get us? Do you think he cast us aside?"

…

That night, Reaper Alpha did the dishes and cleaned up while Squad 13 was out on the breezeway have a talk. As Reaper was washing the dishes Havana walked up next to him and began to help.

"I'm worried Reaper." She said.

"About what?" He replied.

"About them. I've never seen so many children have such abandonment issues."

"This needs to happen love. This is breaking the glorified image that they have of Papa as a god. They need to know that he doesn't care about them like they are told he does. They need to see that they are being treated like pawns and that he doesn't care. It is painful but necessary."

"That's not the only thing I'm worried about."

"What else?"

"When I was washing Ikuno's hair this morning, I found several white strands in her hair. She is too young to be going white from stress."

"Shit. I'm going to have to tell snake to speed it up."

"What are you talking about?"

"The children have Yellow Blood Cells in them, you know that, right?

"Yeah, what about it."

"A side effect is that over time they will experience accelerated aging. Let it go too long and their hair will turn white and they will become frail."

Havana gasped.

"We have found notes leading to a possible cure, but they were incomplete. I've been having Snake work on it in his off time but wasn't too concerned as they had shown no signs of accelerated ageing. Now that they have, I'm going to have Snake make that a top priority."

"How long?" she asked.

"If they stayed out of a FranXX, 10 years. Continuing like they are however, they have about a month or two."

"Does Snake have anything?"

"He has gotten a temporary measure, but it won't last more than two weeks at a time and does more harm than good at the moment. We don't want to tell the children because we don't want them to panic."

"Come on, let's go listen in."

"…What do we do if Papa has cast us aside?" Miku asks

"If your old family abandons you, you make a new one." Reaper said.

"If your Papa has indeed abandoned you, you already have a new family waiting for you. They are right here." Havana said gesturing around, as Reaper Alpha came out of the shadows nearby.

"Should you feel alone, we are here." Owl said.

"Should you need a friend, we are here." Crow said.

"Should you be lost, we are here." Snake said.

"Should you need support, we are here." Cypress said.

"Come heaven," Havana said.

"Hell," Reaper said.

"or high water." Raven said.

" _When you need us, we will be there_ " Reaper Alpha said.

* * *

 **A/N:** And done. Well the illusion that Papa ingrained on them is starting to fade and the children are starting to learn how to live on their own, for the most part. The next chapter is when the 9s show up and Reaper and his squad do not take kindly to their arrival. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	19. Chapter 19: The 9's and Children

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 19: The 9's and Children

"Doesn't that hurt?" Ikuno asked.

Zero Two was out in the backyard filing her horns.

"Not really." She replied as she looked in the mirror that Ikuno was holding before nodding, satisfied.

"Miku, I'm ready!" She called.

Miku walked up holding a small crown.

"Ta-da!" she said, and placed the crown on Zero Two's head, covering her horns.

"How's it look?" Zero Two asked.

"Perfect. I'm sure Hiro will love it too." Miku said.

Havana, who had just walked outside to see what was going on, also added her input.

"It looks lovely, dear."

Havana felt a chill run down her spine as Zorome burst through the door leading out back.

"Guys, we got a problem." Zorome said.

…

In the foyer, Reaper and the rest of Reaper Alpha were standing in front of the stairs glaring at the 9's who were standing in the door. The shadows in the room were twitching and Reaper's knuckles were turning white from how hard he was restraining himself.

"Hey." Alpha said with a wave.

Havana walked behind Reaper and laid her head on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, it worked somewhat.

"Love, who are these children?" Havana asked.

Beta scoffed as Reaper answered. "They are the 9's, Papa's elite parasites. Watch your attitude, Beta, or else I will have your head mounted on the wall." Reaper finished threateningly.

"Now, now, barbarian, Beta is merely disapproving of the actions the woman behind you is taking. Get off of him, you are being quite vulgar." Alpha chastised.

Havana quickly understood Reaper's dislike of these children. To take such an attitude with someone who was far older than they were. The nerve! Havana gently trailed a hand down Reaper's arm, calming him down enough to not kill Alpha where he stood.

"Why are you here?" Owl asked, James was currently standing with his arms wrapped around her.

Alpha's eye twitched when he saw James with his arms wrapped around Owl but continued anyway.

"To check on you, on Papa's orders."

"Papa? So, we weren't cast aside?" Goro asked.

"Of course not! In fact, Papa has been worried sick about you." Alpha replied.

"I'm sure he was." Reaper muttered to himself as most of Squad 13 gave out sighs of relief and "Thank goodness"'s.

Havana trailed an arm down Reaper's chest and whispered in his ear, "Calm, love. Calm."

A few seconds later and Havana was having to restrain herself when she heard what Beta and Gamma said.

"Anyway, this is horrible. It's no environment for children to be living in." Beta whispered to Gamma.

"Agreed, you would think that Reaper 1 would take better care of them but perhaps they don't know what they are doing." Gamma whispered back, sending a glance at Reaper and Havana.

"I don't believe we have properly meet." Alpha said looking at Havana and James.

"I'm Havana."

"And I'm James."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Are you a part of Reaper 1 as well?" Alpha asked.

"Yes, they are." Reaper said.

Alpha nodded then looked at Ichigo.

"Mind preparing some rooms for us?"

"You're staying here?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"I said I'd taken a liking to you guys, remember." Alpha said.

This set off several alarm bells in Reaper's head. As the 9's walked past and up the stairs Reaper whispered to his squad,

"They are to go nowhere unattended, they're hiding something."

…

"Huh? All the surviving squads have been gathered in one location?" Ichigo asked as they were eating.

Since the 9's were there, Havana had made a meal that had been provided in the meal kits that they had been sent, instead of making a recipe of her own.

"Yeah, in a camp of sorts. The FranXX are being fine-tuned there as well. Well, most of them anyway." Alpha sent a glare toward Reaper and his squad who glared right back, as if daring him to call them out on it.

"I see…Why were we the only ones left out?" Ichigo asked.

"It certainly wasn't Papa's intention. Nana and Hachi should know more about it." Beta said.

Miku began to cry.

"Why are you crying?" Delta asked softly, Alpha looked at Delta in disapproval.

I'm just so relieved." Miku responded. "I was worried that we had been left here to die."

" _Damn it."_ Reaper cursed. _"We were so close to breaking the image that Papa cared for them. Now these assholes have come and repaired that image."_

"You guys are surprisingly nice. Here, eat up." Zorome said trying to give Beta more food.

"I'm fine, thank you." Beta responded.

"I thought you guys were here to take Zero Two back." Ichigo said, glancing at Reaper when he let out a small growl.

Epsilon laughed. "We are not here babysitters. We are her squad members. Excuse me, former squad members, as someone else seems to have adopted her for themselves." Epsilon quickly corrected himself when he saw the glare Zero Two was sending him from Hiro's lap with Reaper Alpha.

Alpha sent a glare toward Epsilon before looking at Zero Two.

…

 _Flashback_

 _Zero Two, Epsilon, and Alpha were standing in the woods just outside the manor._

" _How long are you planning on playing human, Iota?" Alpha asks. "You know that you will never be like them. They certainly are a unique squad, but they are hopelessly imperfect. Reaper 1, even more so."_

" _They prefer to be called Reaper Alpha, and my name is Zero Two." She replied._

" _So quick to defend a squad you barely know. You forget what you are. They are fundamentally different from you and us, Iota."_

" _And what is wrong with that?" A voice said, and Reaper and Havana walked out of the forest toward their positions._

" _From where I'm standing, it seems that you are imperfect. So, focused on achieving perfection that you fail to realize that such a thing is impossible to achieve. Imperfection is something that needs to be embraced, as it is what makes us all unique." Havana said._

" _Imperfection is a curse. Something that inhibits the operation of a society." Alpha said._

" _And you know better?" Reaper challenged._

" _And you don't? All you know is a flawed system that ultimately would have failed had Papa not stepped in and saved the failing society." Alpha countered._

" _And would that have happened if your Papa had never poked his nose into something he should not have? You claim that Zero Two is one of you, but she has more in common with us 'imperfects' than she does with you. Begone Alpha and leave with the knowledge that Zero Two no longer belongs to you, but to us." Havana said._

 _Alpha's eye twitched before he turned and walked away. Epsilon bowed to them._

" _I apologize for Alpha's behavior. His dislike of you has gotten the better of him it seems." Epsilon said._

" _Go Ep and assuage your squad leader's injured pride." Reaper said, tiredly._

" _I wish you luck with your new squad Zero Two." Epsilon said before walking away._

' _Ep?' Epsilon wondered as he was walking away._

 _Flashback End_

…

That night, Hiro and Zero Two were in her room, Zero Two was drawing several photos while Hiro watched. Zero Two began to stare into the candle lighting the room when Hiro grabbed her attention.

"Zero Two…What's that?" Hiro asked staring at her flower headband.

"Huh? Oh, Miku made it for me." She replied.

"Wow."

"Don't stare, please."

"It looks great on you."

"On second thought, you can stare." She said shyly.

She then ran her hands along the horns on Hiro's head.

"I've drastically altered your destiny, haven't I?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two touched horns and Hiro felt Zero Two's feelings for him rush into his mind, and the same happened for Zero Two. The two then leaned forward and kissed each other.

…

Theta watched the two kiss through a crack in the door. She huffed quietly and continued down the hallway. Alpha was not going to be happy when he heard this. She was so lost in thought she did not notice Kokoro coming around the corner until it was too late. She bumped into Kokoro and caused her to start falling, Theta quickly rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Y-Yes. Thank you." Kokoro replied shakily. "What are you doing out so late?"

"Exploring. Your manor is set up differently from the others so I was looking about to see what's different. Don't tell the others ok?"

"Understood." Kokoro said and bowed. "Have a good night."

"One more thing, is it normal for Reaper 1's wing of the manor to be locked?" Theta asked.

Kokoro looked at her confused. "Yes, Reaper locks it when he retires for the night. Why do you want to go there?"

"Exploring." Was her response, she then turned and walked away.

Kokoro watched her until she disappeared around the corner. This was worrying, why would a 9 want to explore Reaper Alpha's wing? She would need to tell Reaper in the morning that they were poking around. Kokoro then walked down the hallway to her room, unaware of the eyes watch from the shadows. The eyes looked down on the floor and saw a book, it was wrapped in shadow before disappearing, the eyes vanishing soon after.

…

The next morning Kokoro was up a little while after Reaper and his squad were up. She got dressed and went down the stairs to talk to Reaper about what happened last night. When she got to the dining room, however, Reaper was nowhere to be found. Entering the kitchen, Kokoro found Havana making one of her recipes while humming a tune.

"Havana, where is Reaper?" Kokoro asked.

"Oh! Good morning Kokoro. I didn't expect you to be up this early. Reaper went out to the lake to meditate for a while. Why?" Havana asked.

"Something happened last night that concerns me."

"Why don't you tell me about it while I teach you this recipe."

"What are you making this morning?"

"French toast, omelets and hash browns."

…

"That is concerning. It's one thing to be exploring, but it is quite another to be invading our privacy. I'll make sure that the door is warded so that they cannot enter our wing." Havana said.

"That's not the only concerning thing." Owl said.

The other girls filed into the kitchen and closed the door and soundproofed the room.

"What's going on?"

"We need to have a conversation about this." Owl said, holding up a book titled Your First Childbirth.

When Havana's eyes landed on the book they widened, and she turned to face Kokoro, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Please tell me you haven't put anything you have read in that book into practice." Havana begged.

"N-No." she responded.

"Thank goodness." Havana muttered to herself. "I am not ready to be a grandmother yet."

Kokoro looked so confused.

"I can tell you have many questions. We will answer them but let me start out with this, everything in this book is a banned subject. Just having this book in your possession puts you in extreme danger and you're lucky it was one of us who found it and not one of the 9s." Raven said.

"Now, with that out of the way, fire away Kokoro. We will answer your questions to the best of our ability." Cypress said.

…

Much later, after the girls of Reaper Alpha had their conversation with Kokoro, Theta was poking about the girl's wing. She was annoyed to discover that Reaper 1's wing was barred to her by a wall of shadow. She had a feeling that Code 556 was the reason she was blocked so she was snooping about her room to see if she could find anything. As she was checking under her pillow, Theta discovered a book. Glancing through it, she saw that it contained banned information about the creation of children. She grabbed the book and went back to Alpha, this would do nicely.

…

"Reproduction, childbirth, fetus…" Alpha said before slamming the book closed. "It's all stuff Papa hasn't taught anyone. Where did you find this Theta?"

"Code 556's bunk." She replied.

"We will deal with this is the morning." Alpha said.

…

The next morning, everyone was sitting in the living room talking. Apparently, Zorome had seen Kokoro and Mitsuru in the greenhouse getting clingy with one another. This lead everyone to assume that they were an item.

"All I did was ask if a boy and a girl getting clingy was the cool thing to do!" Zorome shouted.

"Shut up, you big baby!" Miku retorted, this sparked another one of their arguments.

Reaper and his squad chuckled as the two argued and Futoshi began panicking when he was told that the two had kissed. The laughter immediately stopped when he saw the 9s walk through the door.

"Hey guys." Alpha said, drawing everyone's attention. "Do you recognize this?" He held up the childbirth book.

Kokoro looked shocked and Reaper heard Havana give out a quiet gasp and begin glaring at Theta, who began to wither under the fire of her gaze.

"It looks like you do. Mind giving us an explanation, Code 556?" Alpha said with a false smile. "You're the one who had this, didn't you? But it's quite strange. It wouldn't have been provided in the study here, and it surely doesn't belong to you." Alpha sent a glare at Reaper Alpha thinking that they were responsible for the book's appearance. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I apologize for not telling you all." Kokoro said turning toward her squad. "I want to have a baby."

Alpha began to glare at her.

"A baby? Like an animal baby?" Miku asks.

"And how exactly do you make one?" Futoshi asks.

"Wow. But you do know that Papa has banned that, right?" Alpha said.

Squad 13 began to mutter among themselves and reaper summoned Harvester in case he had to fight the 9s off.

"You know," Kokoro began, turning back toward the 9s. "is that really such a bad thing? I mean, that's how the adults, we, and all humans were born."

"What? Papa didn't create us?" Futoshi asked in shock.

"No." Kokoro said turning to her squad again. "We are born just like any other animal. It's what we have done since ancient times."

" _Not exactly accurate right now but that will change."_ Reaper thought.

"That's how all living things have keep their species going for thousands of years. So, well…That's why we have boys and girls. This may be selfish of me, but I want to leave a mark-leave something behind before I'm gone."

"Leave a mark?" Alpha questioned.

"Yes. We have lived our lives believing that our only purpose was to ride a FranXX into battle. But you know what, that might not be true! We could carry new lives and leave them here for the future. When I learned about that, I was so happy…"

" _She finally understands. Now for the rest of them."_ Reaper thought, although that was quickly derailed by what came next.

"Disgusting." Alpha said, and Kokoro turned to look at him. "You are absolutely disgusting. This is ridiculous." Alpha took a step forward. "Humans have evolved and cast their reproductive functions aside in the process. Reject that, and we'll all go back to conforming to one gender. Has the thought ever crossed your mind? That gender is a pain, an annoyance that is only tolerated to operate a FranXX? That's all it is after all."

Alpha was suddenly slammed into a wall and pinned by beams of light. Gamma whistled.

"You sexiest asshole." Havana said in fury. "If you think that society would be better with just one gender, you are dead wrong."

Alpha sighed. "Humans have also cast away their tendency to be ruled by their emotions like that. Because it serves zero purpose in life. You six are a prime example of why such a society doesn't work."

Reaper then slammed into Alpha, throttling him. The light beams pinning Alpha in place dissipated and Reaper lifted Alpha by the neck.

"You have overstayed your welcome. Get out." He growled and threw Alpha out the door.

The 9s prepared to engage Reaper and his squad as they summoned their scythes.

"Enough!" A voice said.

Turning his head, Reaper saw Nana and Hachi standing at the back door.

"Nana! Hachi!"

"Reaper, Kokoro, Havana, come with us. The rest of you stay here."

…

Kokoro sat in a chair in Hachi's office while Reaper and Havana stood in the shadows against the wall.

"This is why I did not want to let the 9s in!" Nana shouted. "I knew it would be nothing but trouble!"

Hachi sighed. "Papa sent them. We couldn't just turn them away. Now that things have come to this, we ought to put an end to this test."

"That damn doctor." Reaper growled.

Nana sighed at his attitude but nodded all the same. "It was under the doctor's orders that we didn't contact you for the past month. He said it was to be Squad 13's final test. Of course, we still monitored you the entire time, in case something happened. We know what you were trying to do with Mitsuru too."

"Kokoro." Havana whispered, "We told you not to try anything."

"You want to make a baby. Something no one is allowed to speak of, much less do. You Havana, had no right to encourage her."

"We didn't encourage her. We made sure to emphasize not to try anything we explained." Havana said.

"You shouldn't have explained anything to begin with."

"But…" Kokoro said getting up and walking toward Nana. "Why do our bodies still have reproductive organs then?"

"Because they are necessary to pilot the FranXX." Nana said coldly. "That why only the children have them. That's all there is to it."

" _Bullshit."_ Reaper and Havana thought.

"Don't think your squad is special"

"What about these feeling then? Why do we still have emotions?!" Kokoro cried.

Nana's eyes widened before she clutched her head and began to sway. Reaper and Havana rushed forward, Havana grabbing Kokoro and Reaper grabbing Nana.

"Let me go Reaper!" Nana shouted still clutching her head and Reaper let go.

"Nana…" Kokoro said.

"Shut up! Go back to the manor. We'll give you your orders in due time."

"Havana, escort her back." Reaper ordered, Havana nodded and muttered something to Kokoro and the two walked out the door.

Reaper had his hands wrapped in shadow and held them a few inches from Nana's head, he had his eyes closed.

"Reaper, what are you doing?" Hachi said sharply.

"Easing the pain." He replied before muttering, "Suppression. It's always suppression with you people."

"*Sigh* When did it start?" Hachi asked, getting up.

"A week or so ago. Watching them go about their lives made me feel so irritated, and…" Nana trailed off.

"Oh? Perhaps you have relapsed into puberty?" A voice said from the door.

Reaper turned and looked to see Alpha leaning against the door frame.

"N-No. Puberty? Me? Never!" Nana replied vehemently.

"Easy Nana, getting worked up will only make the pain worse." Reaper said, still working on muting the pain.

"Didn't you two already undergo emotional indoctrination when you were parasites? Relapsing is really bad news." Alpha said.

"Figures." Reaper muttered.

"You should have replaced her with a new Nana." Nana looked at Alpha in shock. "I hope you go back to doing your actual job from now on, instead of getting into mischief with the doctor."

Harvester thudded into the door frame an inch from Alpha's head.

"And you better get out of my sight, before I decide to take your head." Reaper growled.

"I'll be reporting this to Papa and the rest." Alpha said and disappeared from the door.

"Try something fucker, and I will beat you to a bloody pulp." Reaper threatened.

…

"Oh? So, Nana is useless now?" Dr. FranXX asked through the video feed.

"I believe continuing the test will be difficult." Hachi replied.

"I'm sure. But I gained some intriguing data. The development of humanity's original reproductive instincts…That's far beyond my expectations."

…

 **Meanwhile**

 **Klaxosaur Territory**

 **Location: Blue Volcano**

Two members of APE, Lemur and Tarsier, were descending into the volcano to give their final warning to the Klaxosaur Princess, aka 001 (also known as Gaia, but they don't know that).

"This is a development that differs greatly from human civilization and culture." Lemur said. "I never expected the Klaxosaurs to still possess such technology." He said referring to the escalator they were riding on.

As they approached the throne room, Gaia could be seen sitting on a throne made of blue metal. Behind her, two giant Klaxosaur snakes resided, taking up most of the room. As Lemur and Tarsier approached they gestured for their guards to lower their weapons.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Princess of the Klaxosaurs." Lemur said with a small bow. "Humans and Klaxosaurs have waged war for well over a century, and you have truly shown admirable spirit and fortitude. But it is now time for this protracted war to be consigned to the history books. You no longer stand any chance of victory. Cease your resistance at once, and surrender to us." Lemur stated.

Gaia opened her mouth and let out a scream, causing everyone except Tarsier to clutch their heads in pain.

"Are these words, being sent directly to the brain? Lemur asked.

"What? What are you saying?!" Tarsier asked.

"That can't be!" Lemur said.

Tarsier the took out two Magma Energy Blades and raced toward Gaia.

"Prepare to die Princess of the Klaxosaurs!" He shouted.

"N-No…Don't…" Lemur stuttered.

Tarsier ignored him and jumped to impale the princess. He never got the chance. Just as he was about to stab her, Gaia's tentacles lashed out and impaled him through the chest, before tossing him back down to the others. The two snake Klaxosaurs moved forward and roared at the group.

"N-No, this isn't what we wanted! We only came to ask for your surrender." Lemur said before his head was taken off by the two snakes as they raced forward.

The guards with them tried to flee but they too were consumed by the snakes. Gaia stepped down from her throne, the tentacles forming back into a single tail. She stopped by Tarsier's body and flicked the faceplate off, revealing that the body was empty.

"Damn human wannabes." She said before returning to her throne.

As she sat back down the two snake Klaxosaurs withdrew behind her as a larval Klaxosaur scurried up to her. She ran her hands along its head before speaking.

"You have done well, take a break before going back out again."

The larval Klaxosaur scurried off as Gaia leaned back on her throne. _"Where have you gone, my wayward children? Where have they spirited you off to H and J?_

…

 **That night**

 **Location: Ruins of Plantation 13**

Back at the manor, the remaining pieces of Reaper Alpha and Squad 13 were waiting in the living room for Havana, Reaper and Kokoro to return.

"They sure are taking a while to get back."

"Yeah…"

"I had no idea that Kokoro had that on her mind." Miku said holding her head. "I wish she'd talked to me about it."

"Everyone has things they can't talk about." Ikuno said, sending a glance Ichigo's way.

Reaper Alpha was staring apprehensively at the door. The shadows had stopped twitching two hours ago but that hadn't calmed them down any.

"Do you think we can really make babies?" Miku asked.

"Who knows? It was something we were never taught." Zorome said.

"And if Papa didn't create us, where did we come from?" Goro asked.

"Again, how are we supposed to know!" Zorome shouted.

"What do you think Hiro?" Goro asked.

"I'm not sure. But we may have the potential to do something that Papa didn't teach us about."

"Guys?" Ichigo asked Reaper Alpha.

"It's not our place to say." Raven said distractedly.

"Then whose is it?" Zorome demanded.

"Mine." Reaper said as he walked through the door.

"Reaper!" Owl said, and his squad rushed toward him.

"I'm fine guys. We have escaped punishment this time." Reaper said.

"Where are Havana and Kokoro?" Hiro asked.

"Kokoro is probably off coping somewhere, and Havana is probably with her."

"Coping?" Ichigo asked.

"It's never easy to see someone you have looked up to all of your life break down in front of your eyes."

"What?" Ikuno asked.

"Nana had an emotional breakdown and snapped at Kokoro. Being told that you're not special, that your emotions mean nothing, that you only exist to pilot a FranXX, it can be hard on a person, especially someone like Kokoro. She will probably reappear in the morning."

"I think it's kinda nice actually, to be able to leave something behind." Zero Two said suddenly, changing the topic suddenly. "I'm so envious. You all can leave something behind whereas I can't. You are very lucky in that regard."

Reaper sent a glance at Snake who nodded his head. "I wouldn't say that Zero Two, but that is a topic for another day. You all should get to bed, we will be leaving soon."

…

Kokoro was in one of the abandoned rooms crying her eyes out, Havana was sitting next to her offering what comfort she could.

"It's all my fault." Kokoro cried.

"Kokoro, dear, it was not your fault. It will never be your fault." Kokoro lifted her head and looked at her. "I don't care what Nana, Hachi, or anyone else says, having such thoughts is not wrong. For someone your age, it's perfectly normal. No one is angry at you for having such thoughts, well, no one who matters anyway."

"Thank you, Havana."

"Anytime. Now, let's get you cleaned up. Let me go get you some water to wash your face. We can't have everyone seeing you in such a state."

When Havana returned a few minutes later, Kokoro was gone. In her place, a note was left explaining that Mitsuru had taken her to be put to bed.

"Take care of her Mitsuru. And if something does come of tonight, you better take responsibility." Her voice darkened. "If you don't, not even Death will stop me from killing you."

…

 **APE HQ**

"So, the Princess decided to go down the path of annihilation."

"So foolish. And now, they'll feel the pain of having their earth scorched by their own creation."

The entrance to the meeting room opened and the 9s walked in.

"We are back Papa. There's something you need to know." Alpha said.

 **A/N:** Oh boy, here we go. Mitsuru, please don't do something you will regret. What will the 9s tell Papa? What will happen when the 9s attempt to crash the wedding next chapter? Nothing good, I assure you. Also, we've broken the 10k views mark, thanks guys! But as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	20. Chapter 20: Wedding Bells

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 20: Wedding bells

"We will be abandoning Mistilteinn shortly, be ready to leave at any time." Hachi said.

Ichigo and Reaper had been summoned to the operations room within the spire which held up the Birdcage. Hachi was informing them of their departure.

"Abandon it? So suddenly?" Ichigo asked.

Hachi cast a knowing glance at Reaper but he remained stoic as ever.

"The situation has changed. When the next supply ship arrives, we will take it to the parasite camp." Hachi looked at Reaper, "And make sure your FranXX arrive there at the same time as we do."

"Understood." Reaper said and Ichigo nodded.

…

Hiro, Goro, and Havana were waiting outside the operations room. Havana was checking on Goro who was resting against the wall.

"You ok? How is your fever?" Havana asked as she placed a hand on his forehead.

"Oh, it's no big deal." Goro said.

"Miku had a fever recently too." Hiro said.

"Just goes to show that we all have our issues." Goro said, Havana frowned.

"I don't like this. I may be dealing with an outbreak. When was the last time you guys had any immunizations?" Havana asked.

She received a blank look from the both of them in response.

"Oh, that really not good. I knew you all lived sheltered lives, but I didn't think it was this bad." Havana said.

Ichigo and Reaper then walked out of the operations room door.

"What's wrong Ichigo?" Hiro asked seeing her expression.

As they rode the elevator back to the Birdcage, Ichigo explained what they were told while Havana muttered to Reaper.

"Abandon, huh."

"Can't we stay here somehow?"

"Unfortunately, not." Havana said. "We only have enough rations for a few more days at best. Besides, Mistilteinn itself is crumbling."

It was the unpleasant truth. The trees which were once bright green and full of life, had now turned brown and were starting to die. Most of the water sources had dried up and those that hadn't had become so foul that not even filtering it could make it drinkable. All the fish had died as well.

"Looking back on it, our life here wasn't too bad." Goro said as they walked through the dying forest that surrounded the manor.

"But we can't stay here anymore." Ichigo said.

"That's kinda sad." Goro said.

A Sakura leaf fell in front of Reaper. He grabbed it and quickly wrapped it in shadow to preserve it before warping away to shadow storage. He would collect samples from the trees and fauna to synthesize later, that way some of the plants would survive.

"Hey…" Hiro said, causing the others to stop and look at him. "There is something I would like to do while we are still here.

…

"A wedding?" Owl asked.

"What's that?" Miku asked.

"An old ceremony where two people would make a vow to be true to each other, in sickness, and in health, and never part until death." Havana said. "Myself and Reaper went through such a ceremony 11 years ago, its where the rings came from." She and Reaper both held up their hands that had the diamond rings on them.

"And who is going to marry at this ceremony?" Miku asked.

"Mitsuru and Kokoro." Hiro replied.

"Hiro told us about it, and we thought it sounded wonderful." Kokoro said.

"We decided to do it before we leave this place." Mitsuru said.

"You've got nerve to try this after how much they yelled at you." Goro said.

"That sounds romantic! You have my full support!" Miku said.

"I don't really get it, but is a good way to make one last memory here…" Zorome said.

Futoshi looked upset.

"Futoshi, listen, I…" Kokoro started to say.

Futoshi lunged forward and placed a finger on the illustration in front of them, which displayed what a wedding ceremony looks like.

"I'm taking this role!" He said. "I don't care what you guys say! I'm doing it! I…I want to be beside Kokoro and Mitsuru and congratulate them!"

"Priest? Alright, I can teach you what you need to say." Reaper said.

"Thank you, Futoshi." Kokoro said.

"We will have to get to work right away then."

"Yeah."

"Right."

…

"That's the wedding dress?" Kokoro said.

She, Zero Two, and Havana were in her room looking at the pictures in the book Zero Two had.

"Yup. That's what you will wear for the ceremony." Zero Two said.

"It's so pretty." Kokoro said. "But do we have the materials and time to make it?"

"No, but I have something we can use." Havana said.

She stood up and opened a shadow portal and walked through. The other two waited for a moment before Havana stuck her head back out.

"Come on you two, don't just stand there."

"But Reaper told us we can't enter the Shadow Realm, we will lose our mind." Kokoro said.

"That's only if you go through his portals. He tends to brute force his way to a location. My portals are more stabilized, and besides we are headed to a specific portion of the Shadow Realm, not just passing through it."

"Alright." Kokoro said nervously.

She nervously passed through the portal and it felt like she had been dumped in ice water. When she came out the other side it warmed up. She had entered a large closet about the size of the living room. It was filled with aisles that had shelves that with various colors and styles of clothing as well as several different types of shoes. It had oak hardwood floors and brick red walls.

"What is this place?" Zero Two asked, looking at the different types of clothing.

"My shadow storage area, the closet half anyway. This is where I store all of the different clothes I wear." Havana said, she then turned towards them. "It might take me a bit to find what I'm looking for, so, if there is anything you want to try on, don't hesitate to do so."

She then headed to the center aisle before turning to the right muttering to herself and disappearing.

Kokoro and Zero Two looked at each other before shrugging and looking through the various clothing around them to see if there was anything they would like to try on.

About an hour and a half later they heard a loud crash before hearing a "Found it!" from Havana. Kokoro and Zero Two changed back into their proper clothes and waited for Havana to return. As Havana came around the corner Kokoro gasped.

Havana was carrying a beautiful white dress. It had a train that trailed about 2 feet behind the dress and a veil that had what looked like sunbeams falling through it.

"I found it in the back under some of my old dresses. This is my wedding dress." Havana said, handing it to Kokoro.

Kokoro gasped in shock. "Havana, I can't possibly wear this! It's yours!" She tried to give it back.

"Nonsense, Kokoro." Havana said pushing it back toward her. "I will never wear it again so all it is doing is collecting dust. Please, use it."

"Alright. Thank you." Kokoro said with a small blush.

"No problem. Was there anything that you all tried on that you liked?"

The two nodded.

"Take them with you. They are just gaining dust in here, it will be nice to see someone else getting better use out of them."

"Thank you, Havana." Zero Two said, as the two gathered the clothes they liked and walked back through the portal.

…

"What are those?" Goro asked Mitsuru.

Goro and Mitsuru were in the green house and Mitsuru was making rings out of the metal from the trellises

"Rings. You apparently exchange them during the ceremony. Reaper asked me to make these and give them to him." Mitsuru said.

"Huh. Sounds nice. I bet Kokoro will love it."

"I sure hope so."

Then Reaper walked in the door.

"How's it coming Mitsuru?" He asked.

"Just finished." He said handing the two rings to him.

"Excellent." Reaper said.

He put the two rings in his hand and closed his eyes. The two rings were wrapped in shadow and started to meld. When he finished, the rings had become two solid rings of metal instead of several wraps of wire.

"That's the best I could do in the time we have been given. They are only silver, but they should be fine." Reaper said.

"Thank you, Reaper." Mitsuru said.

"Anytime."

…

Havana was now with Miku and Ikuno. Ikuno had come to her earlier saying she was not feeling well and Havana had sent her to get some sleep and see if it would fix itself on its own. She was checking on her now.

"How are you feeling Ikuno? Still feeling under the weather?" she placed a hand on her forehead.

"No fever." She said as Ichigo walked in the door.

"I need to thank you, Havana." Ikuno said.

"What for?" Ichigo asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Dealing with Nine Alpha for me. If you hadn't, I would have hit him myself."

"Of course, I wouldn't let that bastard get off with that." Havana said, she then looked at Ichigo and gave Ikuno a sly smile. "Ichigo, I believe Ikuno has something she wants to talk about."

"Nani?!" Ikuno said.

"Tell her. Good luck." She whispered and walked out.

"Ikuno, what did you want to talk about?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" _"Damn you Havana!"_

Ichigo nodded.

Ikuno sat up and removed her butterfly hair clip letting her hair free before grabbing Ichigo and dragging her down on the bed nearly straddling her.

"I was thinking the same thing as the 9s back then."

"What do you mean, the same thing?"

"Only a boy and a girl can operate a FranXX together. And I've always wished that annoying system would go to hell."

"Ikuno?"

"But you know what I realized? As much as I find it a pain, I wouldn't be myself if I refused to acknowledge it."

Ikuno ran a hand along Ichigo's face.

"You would be who you are without it. And I would hate that." Ikuno had tears in her eyes.

She laid her head beside Ichigo's

"God, my feelings are such a mess!"

"You're feelings?"

"I love you, Ichigo." Ikuno said.

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"Why me?" she asked.

"You were the one who gave me my name."

 _Flashback_

 _The numbers 196 could be seen on cards in front of Ikuno._

" _Ikuro. She is Ikuro." A boy said._

 _A girl laughed. "That's such a weird name."_

"Remember how everyone started following in Hiro's footsteps and naming each other?" Ikuno said.

 _A younger Ichigo walked over and kneeled in front of Ikuno. She rotated the 6 to where it was almost sideways._

" _No." She said._

" _Your name is Ikuno now. Like it?" Young Ichigo asked._

 _Flashback End_

"I bet you think that it is a silly reason." Ikuno said.

Ikuno lifted her head to look in Ichigo's eyes.

"But ever since that day, I've only had eyes for you."

Ikuno ran her hand along the white hairclip in Ichigo's hair.

"You changed your hairclip a while ago, right?"

Ichigo looked shocked and nodded.

"Yeah."

"I notice such things about you. Did you lose your old one? Or did a certain someone give you a new one?"

Ichigo's eyes widened again.

"I'm such a creep, aren't I? I get insanely jealous of the boys because they can stand next to you just because they are boys. I just want to keep you for myself. That's so selfish, right? It's a pain, isn't it? Why am I like this? I hate being like this!" Ikuno was crying at this point.

Ichigo got up and brought Ikuno into a hug.

"There is nothing wrong with being a pain." She said petting Ikuno's hair. "I'm a pretty big one myself. We are all complicated, difficult, and a pain. But, y'know, I've started thinking that I like being this way. I get the feeling that going through all this is part of what it's like to live a life."

Ikuno's eyes began to water again, unable to accept the silent no she was telling her.

"I probably won't be able to give up that easily. I don't often take no for an answer."

"Yeah I know."

"Thank you, Ichigo."

Ikuno tightened her hug before letting Ichigo go. Ichigo wiped the tears from Ikuno's eyes before walking out. A minute later Havana returned to the room. Seeing the state Ikuno was in, Havana walked over and pulled her into a hug, causing Ikuno to start crying into her chest.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Ikuno said, weakly slamming her fists into Havana's chest.

"I know. I know." Havana said. "Remember, there is always other options. Don't dwell on this, please. I don't want to see this destroy you."

…

All of Squad 13 and Reaper Alpha participated in painting the manor in the area where the wedding would take place the next day. They then all got together and took a group photo, Squad 13 was in the front while Reaper Alpha stood behind them, all of them had visible smiles on their faces.

…

Later that night, Zero Two was having a nightmare. In her dream, she was sitting in her room when she heard a Klaxosaur's cry. A black pool of shadow formed on the floor, and the dead members of the previous squad 13 came crawling out, their eyes glowing red. They reached forward and grabbed her and began dragging her back toward the portal, before they could get drag her in, Reaper came in out of nowhere and sliced them all in half. The nightmare wasn't over yet though. She heard another Klaxosaur's scream and the walls of the building shattered, leaving her and Reaper standing on a square platform. The massive hand the rose out of the ground and came forward to flatten her like it did the plantation. Just before it made contact, Hiro tackled her to the side knocking her out of the way as Reaper pierced the hand. She then woke up.

"Zero Two!" Hiro said as she opened her eyes.

Reaper took his hands off their foreheads.

"Better?" Reaper asked.

Zero Two grabbed Hiro and hid her face in his chest for a minute while she got herself together.

"I guess I dozed off for a bit." Zero Two said.

She then turned to Reaper.

"How did you get in my dream? And how did Darling get there? And how did you know?"

"Nightmares are the byproduct of a mind touching the Shadow Realm. The moment your mind entered the Shadow Realm, I knew. As for how we got in your dream, I can manipulate dreams as long as I'm in contact with the person. So, all I had to do was place my hand on your head and the other on Hiro's and we both entered your mind and could interfere with the dream." Reaper said.

"Thank you." Zero Two said.

"Of course. I told you guys that we would protect you. That's what family does."

…

The next morning, Hiro and Zero Two went for a walk among the now blooming Sakura trees. Reaper had to laugh a bit when he saw them dancing among the falling leaves.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves." Havana said, placing her head on Reaper's shoulders.

"Indeed. It's a shame we don't have more time. I would have liked to see those two wed as well." Reaper said leaning his head on hers.

"Some other time perhaps."

…

Mitsuru was pacing in front of the stairs waiting for Kokoro to come down.

"Calm down man, you never rush a woman." Crow said with a laugh.

"Mitsuru." Kokoro said, coming down the stairs.

Mitsuru looked dumbfounded and looked away with a blush on his face.

"You look lovely Kokoro. Is that Havana's dress?" Crow said.

Kokoro reached the bottom of the stairs and nodded. "Yeah, she gave it to me to use. Mitsuru, please look at me."

"I-I can't! Don't ask for the impossible!" Mitsuru said.

Kokoro then walked over and wrapped her arm around his, causing her to look at him.

"Kokoro?"

"Let's find happiness together." She said with a smile.

"Yes, let's" Mitsuru said with a smile of his own.

"Mitsuru! Kokoro!" Ikuno said rushing forward.

"Ah good. You found them." Crow said, nodding in approval of the flowers that Ikuno had picked.

Ikuno then pinned a flower to Mitsuru's shirt and handed a bouquet to Kokoro.

"There, now you look the part as well." Ikuno said.

"Thank you."

"Thanks, Ikuno."

She waved and looked at Crow and jerked her head toward the doors. Crow nodded and helped her open the doors.

As Mitsuru and Kokoro walked down the aisle, Zorome, Zero Two, Miku, Owl and Raven were ringing bells. The others were either clapping or throwing Sakura petals down on the two. Reaper and Havana were sitting in the front row watching the two with smiles on their faces. Reaper's head suddenly jerked toward the outer walls of the birdcage.

"Reaper, love, what's wrong?" Havana asked.

Reaper took a whiff of the air and his eyes narrowed and took on a deadly gleam.

…

Hachi was watching the wedding take place from the operations room with a smile on his face. It quickly disappeared when a signature appeared on the radar.

"That signal… An APE assault ship?!"

Hachi pressed a button on the console and Alpha's face appeared onscreen.

"Hey." Alpha said.

Hachi could see several dozen troops as well as several armored transports being offloaded from the ship.

"What is the meaning of this? Who authorized this?" Hachi demanded.

"Papa did, obviously."

"Are you going to force them into the parasite camp's re-indoctrination program? Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were to be exempt."

"Not all of them. Just two."

"What?"

"You know what they were up to, don't you? Just sit there and watch, like you always do." Alpha then terminated the call.

…

"The couple will now exchange rings." Futoshi said.

Miku then walked forward, carrying a box with two silver rings in it. Kokoro took the first ring and gently placed it on Mitsuru's finger. Mitsuru then did the same with the second ring.

 _Meanwhile, APE forces were beginning to surround the manor._

"Now…Y-You may seal your vows with a kiss!" Futoshi said.

Mitsuru then lifted Kokoro's veil, just as the two were about to kiss, the APE forces acted. Three soldiers kicked the back-door in and others rushed around the side of the manor.

"All of you freeze! Lift one finger, and you die!" The soldier said.

Unfortunately for him, he and his three companions were decapitated by a pissed off Reaper, and the rest of Reaper Alpha formed a defensive circle around Squad 13.

Reaper then obliterated one of the armored transports as he turned toward the forest.

"I don't take well to wedding crashers." Reaper said cracking his knuckles as he started to levitate.

"What is the meaning of this?" Havana said as shadow infused light began to crackle between her fingers and her hair began to float.

The 9s came out of hiding in the forest and approached them.

"So that's what you can do." Alpha noted idly. "Papa has deemed those two dangerous." He pointed at Kokoro and Mitsuru. "They are to be taken and re-indoctrinated."

Zero Two then came flying in out of the bushes and landed a solid uppercut on Alpha. And the melee started. Zero Two then began to attack Alpha again while he dodged, and the rest of APE's forces attempted to get past Reaper Alpha to get to Kokoro and Mitsuru. Reaper and Havana followed close behind Zero Two as she attempted to lay into Alpha. When the rest of the 9s attempted to get involved, however, Reaper launched a shadow pulse from his hand knocking them into the surrounding trees. He then jerked two fingers up causing the 9's shadows to rise up and pin them in place. They were shadow copies of themselves, but they had burning red eyes and spoke with distorted voices.

" _You shouldn't have interfered."_ Shadow Beta said.

" _The Alpha will deal with you shortly."_ Shadow Theta said.

The fight between Zero Two and Alpha had managed to, somehow, circle around back to the manor. Zero Two had managed to get several more punches on Alpha, but unfortunately, he managed to get a lucky shot on her and chopped her across her windpipe causing her to collapse. However, he forgot about Reaper and Havana, something he soon realized has he was then pinned to a wall by four light beams, one through each hand and one in each calf.

"I've waited a long time for this." Reaper said with a sadistic grin. "Havana, love, help me?"

"With pleasure."

The two then went to town on him, beating every inch of him black and blue. They weren't going to torture him, not yet at least. That would be later. Right now, they were going to make sure that he was well aware that he was nothing more than an insect to them, before they worked on breaking his mind. Reaper had just given Alpha a good black eye when he looked over to where the wedding was supposed to take place and saw that his squad was starting to be overwhelmed. With noncombatants on the field, they couldn't use their scythes, as such they were forced to use strictly hand to hand combat, and they were falling under the sheer number of troops. APE forces had already secured Kokoro an Mitsuru and were dragging them away. Reaper sent out a shadow pulse to nock away the soldiers taking them but even more rushed to the two newlyweds and secured them.

"Havana, time to go." Reaper said.

She nodded and the two leaped over to their squad and Havana blasted the encroaching guards away. She also removed the light beams that were holding Alpha to the wall causing him to fall to the ground. Reaper created a shadow ball in his hands before crushing it, causing a thick fog to cover them, the only thing that could be seen was Reaper and Havana's burning red eyes.

"This is far from over Alpha." Reaper said.

"Make no mistake, we will finish what we started. For now, however, we bid you Adieu." Havana said before the two eyes disappeared.

When the fog cleared, Reaper Alpha and Squad 13 were gone.

…

Moments later, over a hundred miles away, Reaper and his squad reappeared on the surrounding mountains. Reaper looked at his newly expanded squad.

"Havana, perform first aid on our new squad members." Reaper said.

Havana nodded and began to check on Futoshi who had several bruises from trying to defend Kokoro and Mitsuru from the guards.

"What do we do now Reaper?" Goro asked.

"Exactly what I said we would do, if staying in the Birdcage was no longer viable, we would take you out and make someplace new." Reaper pulled out an Eden Disk.

He gently placed the disk on the ground before stepping on it. Suddenly the earth began to tremble and shift.

"What…?" Ichigo said as she tried and failed to maintain her balance.

A cave entrance opened where Reaper had crushed the disk. Inside, a set of perfectly formed stairs led downward into the depths.

"For now, though, we hide. Until I'm damn sure they won't take you all as well." Reaper said, muttering that last part. "Havana?"

"Only minor cuts and bruises, they will heal in a few days. I'm still more concerned about their immunizations, they are no longer in a controlled environment and have had no immunizations to speak of."

"Once we get set up, handle it. We can't have them getting sick now. Come, all of you." Reaper said, and he began to descend the stairs into the darkness below.

"Are we not allowed the slightest bit of happiness? It's like nothing has changed since we were in the Garden!" Hiro raged.

"Now you see what we have been trying to tell you. The society that Papa has built doesn't work, its nothing more than a dictatorship, he makes all the decisions and you are forced to listen.

"Where were Mitsuru and Kokoro taken? And will we see them again?" Miku asked sadly.

"I don't know where they were taken too but I do know that you will see them again. Your Papa won't allow a squad to be a FranXX short." Raven said as they approached a doorway of light.

As they passed through, everyone except for Reaper and Havana's jaws dropped. What stood before them was a subterranean paradise. There was a waterfall that had clear, clean, water falling from it which fed into a large lake. There was a forest off to the side with several animals moving through it. Off to the left, there were fields of crops growing as well as several different types of berry bushes. Up above, the ceiling of the cave had changed to show the sky above them and an artificial sun hung in the center of everything. Next to the lake, there were three large cabins that were forming a circle with a campfire in the center.

"H-H-How?" Goro said in shock.

"What…?" Ichigo started to say.

"Damn Reaper, I knew that you said these things were powerful, but not this powerful." Snake said looking at the artificial sun.

"You have been holding out on us Reaper." James said, looking around.

"A lake setting. This is a new one." Reaper said.

"Agreed. There are different crops and animals as well." Havana said.

"What are you two talking about? Didn't you make these?" Ikuno asked.

"I made the Eden Disks, yes, but I did not make this. No two Eden Disks are the same. Every time a disk is activated, it creates a random environment with a variety of crops, settings, and animals. Havana and I tested hundreds of these with Reaper Command and we have yet to come across two similar environments." Reaper said.

"The cabins down there are where we will stay until things get settled. They have unlimited electricity and water so don't worry about wasting it. We were lucky to get one with three cabins, so since you all split up along gender lines, the boys will take one cabin while the girls will take another, and we will take the last one." Havana said.

"What about clothing?" Zorome asked.

"Worry not. Somehow, clothing is always provided, and it is the type of clothing that you usually wear, so most likely it will be your uniforms. In our case, it will be something from our shadow storage." Reaper said.

"Go get yourselves settled. Once you are done, come back out by the campfire, I should be set up by then." Havana said.

"Set up?" Crow asked.

"Immunization station." Was her response.

…

Hachi was standing outside of a door in the parasite camp, aka the Birds Nest. Opening the door, he looked in a dark room with Nana curled in a ball up against a wall near the door.

"If I possessed emotions, what could I have said to the children?" He asked himself.

He remembered how much joy Nana had when she was a pistil she often had a smile on her face and laughed easily. He remembered that horrible sortie where her FranXX was nearly crushed and he fought tooth and nail to reach her, only to find her stamen had died in her arms. He remembered the state of rage she was in when she returned to their plantation and had to be taken away by the guards. She was never the same when she returned.

He then closed the door but still stood before it.

"As you are now, maybe you could have offered them more support. Instead, Reaper 1 had to take them away, and we don't know where they are."

…

 **Time skip 2 days.**

Reaper Alpha was standing outside of the entrance to the cave talking to a holographic Hachi on Reaper's communicator.

"Alright Reaper, you demands have been meet. I have a guarantee from Papa that you, your squad, and Squad 13 will not be taken to be indoctrinated. In return you are to tell us where you are located so that we can come retrieve you and take you to the Birds Nest." Hachi said.

"Very well." Owl said as Reaper tapped a few buttons on his communicator.

A moment later, Hachi received a set of longitude and latitude coordinates pointing to an area in the mountains.

"We are right there. An LZ (Landing Zone) has already been cleared. We will be ready in an hour." Reaper said, and Hachi nodded before terminated the link.

"Havana, Owl and Cypress, go help the girls pack up. Crow, Snake and James, go help the boys. Raven, go comb the area and make sure nothing has been left behind. I'll stay up here and keep an eye out for the transport. Be ready in an hour." Reaper said.

His squad nodded and descended the stairs back down to the others. 45 minutes later, they returned with the rest of the squad in tow.

"Got everything?"

They nodded.

"Good."

Reaper then placed the Eden Disk he originally broke on the ground upside down. On the back there was a small button which Reaper pressed and stood back. The disk glowed black and the ground shook again. The cave entrance the slammed shut and the earth quit moving. Reaper reached down and picked up the disk before putting it back in his cloak.

"What did you do?" Miku asked.

"Took back the environment. My Eden Disks are reusable as long as you have a blank disk. Besides, I wasn't going to leave it for APE to find." Reaper said.

"Damn that's powerful." Goro said.

Then, Reaper heard the whine of the approaching transport. Looking up, Reaper saw a FranXX transport ship descending onto the LZ. When it landed, the ramp dropped and Hachi stepped off and approached.

"On you go children." Havana said and waked with them onto the transport, all except Reaper followed. Hachi walked up to Reaper, handing him a sheet of paper.

"As requested, one signed statement from Papa guaranteeing your safety within the Birds Nest." Hachi said.

Reaper read the paper before nodding in approval. He then looked around.

"Where is Nana, Hachi?"

"She is indisposed."

Reaper looked at Hachi's rigid posture. "I take it that you do not agree with her being replaced."

"Not my choice."

Reaper looked at him before walking toward the transport, Hachi not far behind him.

"Hachi." Reaper said over his shoulder. "She won't be gone long. I'll make sure of that."

…

They had been assigned a small room within the Birds Nest, and already the children didn't like it. Reaper and his squad had gone off to explore about 10 minutes ago but would return shortly.

"The parasites are being summoned in order." Ichigo said.

"I don't like this place. It reminds me of the Garden." Miku said.

"How long will this go on?" Ichigo said curling in a ball against the wall.

"We were told to standby until our next mission, remember?" Goro said unhappily.

"But it's been weeks, man." Zorome complained.

"I hope Kokoro and Mitsuru are ok." Futoshi said.

Just then Reaper and his squad returned.

"Just as we figured, we are confined to this area. It also seems our reputation precedes us as rumor was flying around about us as we walked through the area." Reaper said.

Just then, Ichigo's communicator went off. She pulled it out and looked at it in shock.

"Guys! Kokoro and Mitsuru are back."

…

Reaper Alpha and Reaper Beta, which is what Reaper and his squad now called Squad 13, were waiting in the lobby area for Kokoro and Mitsuru. The two came in under armed escort and Reaper Beta rushed forward to greet them.

"Thank goodness, we thought we would never see you again." Ichigo said.

"I'm glad to see you're both ok." Futoshi said.

"Sorry! It was all my fault for suggesting the wedding." Hiro said.

"Wedding?" Kokoro said. "What's a wedding?"

" _No."_ Reaper thought.

"Come on! You don't remember that ceremony?" Zorome said.

"'Until death do us part' and all that stuff." Ikuno said sadly.

"You even exchanged rings." Goro said.

Mitsuru looked at his hand and saw there was a silver ring on it.

"Oh, this?" Mitsuru said.

"I don't know when it got there." Kokoro said looking at hers.

"Who is she anyways?" Mitsuru said. "A new squadmate?"

" _No, no, no, no, no!"_ Reaper thought.

"Huh? You're the new member, not me." Kokoro said.

" _They wiped their goddamn minds of each other!"_ Reaper mentally raged.

Out of the corner of his eye Reaper could see that Hachi did not look pleased. Beyond him, however, Reaper could see a smirking Alpha standing in one of the doorways. He quickly turned tail and ran however, when he saw Reaper lift a shadow wrapped hand toward him. It was already too late as Reaper had placed a death flag on him.

" _It's too late Alpha."_ Reaper whispered in Alpha's mind. _"Your soul already belongs to me. You can run and hide all you want, but I will find you. You are going to wish we had killed you in Mistilteinn once I get ahold of you."_

* * *

 **A/N:** Now you've done it Alpha. You best kiss your ass goodbye because Reaper is going to kill you. So, the next chapter will be the second battle of the Gran Crevasse and there will be some unexpected changes. But as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	21. Chapter 21: VIRM and Death

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 21: Second Battle of the Gran Crevasse and VRIM

Quick note, this chapter will be combining episodes 20 and 21. Enjoy!

* * *

"In the previous battle, we successful took over the Gran Crevasse, and the massive weapon that lay underground, the Star Entity, is now under our control." Said an adult woman with short brownish red hair, she never seemed to open her eyes, even when looking at her clipboard. "Tomorrow, we will be booting it up. The FranXX squads are tasked with the mission of keeping all enemies away from it. Many sacrifices will have to be made, but please do your best." She said with a light smile, Reaper Alpha was not impressed.

"Um…" Miku said raising her hand.

"What is it, Code 390?" the woman said.

"Where'd Nana go?" she asked.

The woman tilted her head and put a hand on her face.

"But I'm Nana. Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Code 007, and I have been appointed as Squad 13 and Reaper 1's new caretaker."

"Fake Nana." Reaper muttered, and Reaper Beta muttered among themselves.

"Um, this Star Entity, it's a Klaxosaur weapon, right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes." Fake Nana answered.

"Isn't that risky?"

…

"There isn't any need to worry on that front. That's why we modified it so much." One of the APE's said.

Reaper, Hiro, Zero Two and Doctor Franxx were standing in an empty room talking to the APE council via holograms.

"Long story short, we are implanting Strelitiza into the Star Entity's core. That will let us control it."

"Code 002, we raised you with so much care, all for this day." Papa said he then tilted his head. "We're counting on you."

"Says the man who lied to me." Zero Two said.

" _Atta girl."_ Reaper thought.

"Assuming we do manage to control the Star Entity, what happens after that? If we exterminate the Klaxosaurs, will there be a place in that world for us?" Hiro asked.

"Of course." Papa said. "If we win the war against the Klaxosaurs, the future will belong to us, humanity."

"This will be the last time we call you Papa. We won't let you control our destiny anymore." Hiro said and he and Zero Two walked out.

Only Reaper and Dr. Franxx were left in the room.

"You have quite the nerve to say such things, especially after yesterday." Reaper said, glaring at Papa.

Yesterday, after much discussion, the group decided to ask Papa to restore Kokoro and Mitsuru's memories. When they asked, Papa told them that they had removed the unnecessary memories and that there was no way to return them. The vice chairman then told them that what they were doing was a strict violation of the rules, but they would be let off with a note on their files. Zorome then asked how many Klaxosaurs they needed to kill in order to be considered adults, but the Council refused to answer and Zorome demanded to know what it was they were living for. Hiro then said that they removed Kokoro and Mitsuru's memories just as they had removed their precious memories of each other. He said that they could no longer see him as their Papa and demanded that they be released once the battle was over and Papa agreed.

"Who are you to be saying such things? We have worked hard to maintain order on this world. What have you done?"

"A hell of a lot more than you have. You all are nothing but dictators who use force to keep people in line. You best keep your promise, else you all won't be able to see the future you all envisioned." Reaper said before walking out.

…

"Doctor, we have received word that Hringhorni is ready for action." Hachi said.

Hachi was standing in Dr. Franxx's office inside the Birds Nest.

"I see. A massive spear built using Klaxosaur cores. Was such a thing really necessary? Its complete overkill. More than anything, it isn't beautiful."

"Humanity must need it to prevail."

Doctor Franxx paused.

"How's Nana doing?"

"I've had her brief Squad 13 and Reaper 1 on their mission."

"Not that one."

Hachi tensed but said nothing, causing the Doctor to sigh.

"Nevermind. Do as you wish."

…

"The rings?" Goro asked.

Reaper Alpha and Beta were sitting in their assigned waiting area eating breakfast. Owl and James were standing near the entrance, casually guarding the way in while the others were spread about the space. Zorome was complaining about the food which sparked another argument with Miku.

"What, seriously?"

"I'm saying Kokoro and Mitsuru took off their rings." Futoshi said.

"I'm amazed you noticed." Goro said. "Are you still not over…"

Futoshi glared at Goro.

"Sorry. They didn't throw them away, did they?"

"The tried to," Reaper said walking over to them. "but I've got them." He summoned the two rings from shadow storage. "Can't let all our hard work go to waste. I'll keep them until they ask for them back."

Kokoro then dropped her drink as her hand flew to cover her mouth.

"Kokoro?!" Miku said.

Kokoro then got up and raced to the woman's room the girls and Havana following behind her.

Kokoro had gotten sick and thrown some of her food back up. Havana was with her as she was trying to recover.

"Feeling better now?" Havana asked.

"This has been happening a lot recently, almost every morning." Ikuno said.

" _Morning sickness? She can't be…"_ Havana thought. Oh, this was not good.

"Maybe you should take the upcoming mission off." Ichigo said.

"I'll be fine." Kokoro said. "Papa had sent me back here, even after erasing my memories. So, the least I could do was fight for him. Even if it means laying down my life."

"No! Your wrong!" Miku said grabbing Kokoro in a hug from behind. "You don't belong to Papa! None of us do!"

"But…"

"We must survive and leave a mark for the future! You taught us that!" Miku shouted.

"I did?"

…

 **D-day**

The parasite has gathered in the assembly hall where the members of the Council were giving a grandiose speech about winning.

"APE has always desired eternal peace and prosperity for mankind."

"Fear not, soldiers! Offer up everything you have for this mission!"

"On this day, we will wipe out the Klaxosaurs once and for all!"

Out of all the parasites there, only Squad 13 was not paying attention. Most of them were refusing to look at the council while Zero Two and Hiro openly yawned. Reaper Alpha was the most noticeably out of place. They hadn't bothered to line up like everyone else, no. They wanted to show every parasite there that they were not normal. So, they were floating high above the parasites via Havana's power. Each member had their scythes strapped to their backs and were glaring down at the Council, mentally murdering the lot of them.

…

As Reaper Alpha and Beta were heading to their FranXX they were intercepted by the 9s.

"I can't say I approve." Alpha said causing the squad to turn around and look at them.

"You guys stuck out like a sore thumb." Beta said.

"You were an eyesore, honestly." Gamma said.

Reaper Beta just glared at them.

"There you go again. Being so openly hostile. Your like animals." Delta said, she hadn't gotten over being pinned to a tree by Reaper yet.

"These guys are much stronger than you are." Zero Two said. "And have their eyes set on the future."

Alpha glared at her.

"Don't look down on humans." Zero Two said.

"Tch! Don't get the wrong idea, Iota." Alpha said. "Papa only gives you guys special treatment because he sees you as necessary tools. You will understand in due time."

"That's enough out of you, Alpha." Reaper said stepping forward.

Alpha took several unconscious steps backward at the sight of him.

"Remember what I told you, Alpha." Reaper's eyes flashed and suddenly everyone could see the shadow aura that surrounded Alpha.

"A death flag?!" Raven muttered.

"Your soul belongs to me. You best hope a Klaxosaur get you before I do, at least then your death will be quick and painless." Reaper said.

Alpha humphed and he and his squad turned and stormed off. Reaper Beta turned to Reaper.

"Reaper what…" Ichigo started to say before an alarm went off.

"It's go time. All of you, into your FranXX and onto the field. Take no unnecessary risks and keep your squad members alive." Reaper said.

As they ran toward their FranXX, an automated voice came over the PA.

 _Klaxosaur horde currently at a distance of 3000 clicks. Fast approaching the Gran Crevasse. Multiple Gutenberg and Lehmann class Klaxosaurs identified. Estimated to reach the first line of defense in 103 minutes._

As they entered their FranXX's Reaper gave one last piece of advice.

"Watch your six! It will be very easy to get surrounded and overwhelmed. Good hunting! Reaper out!"

Although the 9s had made first contact, Reaper Beta was tearing through the horde of Klaxosaurs like they were paper, killing dozens at a time with a single swipe or blast. Although nothing could compare to Reaper Alpha who were doing laps of the battlefield assisting any who needed the help. Genista was had just blasted several Klaxosaurs to oblivion.

"Okay. This could actually work, Code 55…" Mitsuru trailed off. "Excuse me, Kokoro."

A jolt of pain went through Mitsuru's head filling it with static.

"What was that?" he asked himself.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Genista asked. "Answer me!"

"Genista! Don't stand still, keep moving." Delphinium said.

"H-Hey what should I do? Answer me Mitsuru-" Kokoro screamed as pain ripped through her head too.

"M-My head!" she said.

"James!" Reaper shouted.

" _On it!"_ Narcissus said.

She ran through a group of Klaxosaurs and swung her scythe obliterating several Klaxosaurs who had gotten too close.

"This pain… is it because I said her name?" Mitsuru asked himself.

…

 **Meanwhile in the Gran Crevasse**

Strelitiza was descending the elevator to the bottom of the Gran Crevasse. With them were Dr. FranXX and Hachi.

"It sure is quiet." Hiro said.

"Yeah." Zero Two replied.

"What do you want to do after we are done with this?"

"I want to go see the world. You said you would show me, remember?"

"Where should we go? The ocean? Then there's…"

"I don't care as long as I'm with you. I just want to travel the world, like that princess did in our book."

"Zero Two." Hiro grabbed her hand. "I'm sure we are going to be put through a trial by fire. But…We have gone through these things many times before, too. You and I made things work out each time." He looked at her. "Let's make it happen one last time."

Zero Two nodded. "Together, we can defy any fate."

"We will be together forever."

"What if we are torn apart?"

"I'll come get you."

"Same here."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

…

"The Star Entity is ready to go. Move out, Strelitiza." Dr. Franxx said.

"Roger!" the two said.

Zero Two's head suddenly jerked up.

"Something wrong?" Hiro asked.

"Something's coming." She replied.

 **Up on the surface.**

" _Incoming UFO from 10 o'clock!"_ Narcissus shouted as something slammed into the ground in front of them, knocking them away. It then leaped into the air again and Reaper and Havana got a good look at it. It looked like two snakes that were wrapped around each other.

"It's heading for the Gran Crevasse!" Goro said.

"Gaia!" Havana said.

 **Back underground**

"Well it looks like they won't make it easy for us." Dr. Franxx said.

"What is going on?" Hiro asked.

"I'll call for reinforcements. They won't get here in time. Prioritize the mission, Strelitiza." Dr. Franxx said. "Get going!" He said pointing down the corridor.

"Zero Two!"

"R-Right."

Strelitiza then began to move down the corridor.

"We better get moving too, Doctor." Hachi said.

"No time."

One of the walls of the elevator shaft buckled before breaking through covering the area in dust. When the dust cleared a massive snake stood before Dr. Franxx.

"Humans." Gaia said. "You will not do as you please with our child. You have already taken two of them, you shall not take the third."

"I see! So, it is you Code 001… Princess of the Klaxosaurs!"

The Snake opened its mouth to reveal Gaia sitting regally on its tongue, unharmed.

"It's been far too long. Are you here to take back the Star Entity? But you can't operate it. You don't have a partner. You are the last surviving Klaxo-sapian. So, I will operate it with you!"

"No." Gaia said, and several tentacles lashed out and pinned him to the ground. "You sinful man."

"Doctor!" Hachi shouted.

"Quiet human or you will be next." Gaia said glaring at Hachi.

"I, need no partner. But, since I have the chance, I will use the one you provided."

"What?" Dr. Franxx asked.

…

Strelitiza was doing her best to pry open the door but it wouldn't budge.

"No good. It won't budge." Hiro said.

"Darling." Zero Two said.

"Strelitiza here. Reached entry point but the door won't budge." Hiro tried to contact Dr. Franxx and Hachi but got no response.

Hiro then heard a Klaxosaur's roar behind him.

"The enemy caught up? Zero Two we will have to fight here."

Zero Two was minutely trembling.

"Zero Two? The controls…"

Then the Klaxosaur snake slammed headlong into Strelitiza. Pinning her to the wall. Gaia floated out of the snake and levitated in front of Strelitiza. She raised her hand and Strelitiza's faceplate deactivated and opened on its own accord.

"What?" Hiro said.

When the face plate was fully opened Hiro saw Gaia. He noted that she looked remarkably similar to the younger Zero Two, except her skin was blue instead of red. Zero two gasped in shock as a tentacle wrapped around her neck. Hiro tried to lung forward but another one wrapped around his neck and held him in place. Gaia pulled Zero Two toward her and looked at her.

"Ah, the fake that the humans created. A clone that does not realize that she is being used by the invaders. You are not fit to pilot our child."

"Fake?" Zero Two struggled to say.

"What are you saying?" Hiro asked.

"Get out of my sight, trash." Gaia said and flung Zero Two out behind her.

"Zero Two!" Hiro said as more tentacles wrapped around him holding him in place.

Gaia moved forward until she was directly in front of Hiro and examined his horns. Zero Two had managed to grab onto the edge of the faceplate and hauled herself back up.

"You however, are perfect. I shall take him." Gaia said, she then leaned forward and began to kiss Hiro.

Zero Two gasped in shock. "Darling!" she raced forward to try and pull Gaia off of him, but she was swatted of the face plate by a tentacle and the face plate closed.

"What a curious taste." Gaia said as she put her tentacles in the hand slots of the pistil platform. "You truly are no ordinary human. Surrender yourself to me. I shall devour your body and soul, and you will be born anew."

"No. Way!"

Strelitiza's paint color was changing. Gone was the typical white and red. Instead it was replaced with blue and black, the same coloring as the Klaxosaurs. Its faceplate activated, and it began to levitate. Turning toward the door she held out a hand and the door began to open, and she flew through.

…

"W-why?" Hiro asked. "How are you able to pilot Strelitiza?"

"Foolish child. This used to be one of our brethren, so naturally it would obey me." Gaia said.

"Brethren?"

Gaia's horns glowed blue and a ringing sound began to emanate from them.

 **On the surface.**

Topside, the battle had been progressing on but the hordes of Klaxosaurs seemed endless. Suddenly a ringing sound was heard coming from the Gran Crevasse and the Klaxosaurs stopped moving. Everyone with the exception of Reaper Alpha began to cover their ears.

"What the…" Delphinium said.

"A voice…" Argentea said.

"…speaking…" Zorome said.

"…directly…" Ikuno said.

"…to our minds?" Futoshi finished.

"Gaia." James said in shock.

"Heed me, humans." Gaia said. "You ignorant fools who steal the symbol of our bonds that courses the planet's depths."

"'Courses the planet's depth's'?" Hachi thought. "Magma Energy?"

"I found something while studying Klaxosaur corpses. At some point in time, their kind split into two different forms. One returned to the earth and became energy." Dr. Franxx said.

"Steal? That's an affront!" an APE said.

"Magma Energy is part of the planet's resources!" said another. "Its discovery saved humanity from certain ruin."

"Do you realize how self-centered of a viewpoint that is?" Gaia replied. "And now you wish to steal my child? I could never allow that to pass. For this child is a crystallization of our bonds."

"Don't talk down to Papa! Damn Klaxosaur!" Alpha said.

Black Rose whacked him across the head.

" _Shut up you damn idiot!"_

"And what was that other form?" Hachi asked Dr. Franxx

"It consumed that energy and evolved physically. It took an absurdly long time, in which time they stopped mingling with one another and eventually lost their intelligence."

"Just what are the Klaxosaurs?" Hachi asked.

"Biological weapons built by the Klaxo-sapiens. They are comprised of one male and one female Klaxo-sapien. The female's soul connected to the weapon, and the male's soul took root in the core, the cockpit."

"That almost sounds like the FranXX…" Hachi said.

"It is the FranXX. It's merely an application of the Klaxosaur system. Klaxosaurs can be piloted by humans genetically modified to be similar."

Delphinium looked at her hand. "So, we have been piloting Klaxosaurs, to fight Klaxosaurs?"

"No way. Klaxosaurs had pilots just like us?" Goro said.

"Could it be…" Zorome said.

"Remember the S-Planning?" Chlorophytum said.

"They were excavating Klaxosaurs to serve as bases for the FranXX back then?" Futoshi said.

"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!" Zorome said.

"And now you realize the ugly truth. The entire time, we have been committing genocide." James said.

Gaia's head immediately jerked up but beyond that she did not react to James speaking.

Gaia and Hiro landed in a large room with a pedestal in the center.

"What is this place?" Hiro asked.

"Awaken, my child." Gaia said. "They are nearly here."

…

 **APE HQ**

 _Strelitiza has begun the implantation process_

"No." an APE said.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Papa said.

"What?" An APE replied.

"We wanted to take it and Hringhorni to space as soldiers." The Vice Chairman said.

"Space?"

"If we can't have it, then it can go down along with this planet." Papa said.

"What are you saying?"

"And we return to our original roles." Papa finished.

Up above earth, a gateway began to tear itself into existence.

…

 **Earthside**

The ground began to tremble and crack.

"Earthquake?!" Futoshi said.

"Look! Over there!" Chlorophytum said pointing to the right.

Off to the right the ground was bucking as several Klaxosaur colored things began to emerge from the ground.

"Are these…Klaxosaurs?!" Delphinium asked in shock.

The missile like objects then ignited and flew through the air.

"It flew?" Argentea asked.

The earth cracked and buckled once more.

"Again?" Alpha asked.

"It's much larger this time" A parasite said.

Several massive guns rose out of the ground.

"Klaxosaurs?" Delphinium asked.

"No." Reaper said. "This is a terrestrial defense network."

"Which means…" Crow started to say.

"Yup. Those were missiles earlier."

The guns then began to fire into the heavens as more missiles flew. The purple lasers began raining down from the skies. The entire scene looked apocalyptic.

"What the hell is going on?! This isn't like any of our other battles!" Zorome said.

"Just what the hell is happening?" Delphinium said.

Behind them, they heard a large crash. They turned around to see a massive four-legged FranXX with Strelitiza's head.

"That's the Star Entity's awakened form?" Hachi asked.

"This is it! My Strelitiza Apus!" Dr. Franxx began laughing. "It's beautiful! I wish I could have piloted it…No, that does not matter anymore."

"Look at how ugly the humans have make you." Gaia said. "But no matter, you are still our child."

During all of this, Zero Two had managed to get up off the ground from where she was bleeding out. As she struggled to stand the snake Klaxosaur turned around to look at her. It looked at her before jerking its head back toward the corridor towards the elevator. It watched as she leaned up against the wall leaving a line of blood and began to walk down the hallway. _"She will make it."_ It thought as it turned back to the closed door and waited.

On the surface, drop pods began to drop from the sky and landed next to the massive Klaxosaur guns, ejecting hundreds of small purple and black humanoid like things. They rushed toward the FranXX but raced past them ignoring them in favor of destroying the guns. A bright purple light was seen gathering in the heavens.

"A long time ago, we were attacked by invaders from the far reaches of space. We fought and drove them off. We then holed ourselves up in the earth and prepared for their return." Gaia said.

"Invaders?" Hiro asked.

"Indeed. They are invaders. Our true enemy. VIRM."

"Dreadnaught Beam!" Reaper shouted, and he grabbed Delphinium and hauled her away from the massive guns, the rest of his squad doing the same for the others.

The purple beam lanced down and obliterated one of the terrestrial defensive guns.

"Filthy invaders. I shall not let you even touch our planet this time." Gaia said.

Blue light began to gather at the horn on Strelitiza Apus's head, before a beam twice the size of the one that destroyed the gun shot into the heavens. A long line of VIRM ships were obliterated along with the dreadnaught. The explosions could be seen from the ground.

"Die. You will not take our planet."

"It is futile." Papa said.

Gaia suddenly jerked.

"What happened?" Hiro asked as the tentacles around him went limp.

Gaia was acting like she could barely breath.

"C-Curse you, VIRM! What have you done to our child?"

Strelitiza Apus was suddenly scanned by purple energy.

"What?" Dr. Franxx said. "What is happening?"

" _This is VIRM's will."_ Papa and the Vice Chairman said.

"What?" an APE said.

The two's bodies dropped and were revealed to be nothing but empty shells as a star like figure made up of white energy with two masks appeared.

"The Star Entity is a mass of life that could destroy the peace of the universe." The Vice Chairman said.

"As such, if the Klaxosaur Princess took over during the implantation process, we programed it to explode." Papa said.

"The die has been cast." The Vice Chairman said.

Purple and black metal rose up out of the ruins of the Gran Crevasse entombing Strelitiza Apus up to the top of her head.

"This planet…" Papa said.

…will explode…" the Vice Chairman said.

"… _Leaving nothing behind."_

"Hiro…Zero Two…" Delphinium said.

"Stop…" Dr. Franxx said. "Please stop!" he fell to his hands and knees.

"Doctor!" Hachi said.

"It's all ruined. Apus is my ultimate work of works! Don't defile it!"

Purple vines began to crawl up Gaia's body.

"We will absorb all life on this planet. And we will take you to eternal paradise." Papa said.

"You infernal fiends!" Gaia said as she struggled to free herself from the vines.

The vines began to crawl through the tentacles that were attached to Hiro and consume his body as well.

"Zero Two." He said.

…

Zero Two had collapsed three quarters of the way down the corridor. "I promised…" she said and struggled to stand before progressing down the hallway. _"I'm gonna come get you darling! No matter what!"_

…

Reaper was pissed. _No, I refuse. We have gone through too much bullshit for it to end this way._ They suddenly glowed gold. In front of them a golden seal appeared before fading away.

"The apocalypse seal!" Havana said.

"The day has come." Reaper said.

…

Death was fuming. A hive mind. A hive mind that stole souls to boot! Oh, if he wasn't sealed in this realm that civilization would be obliterated! Death suddenly glowed white. When it dissipated, Death started laughing.

" _So, the powers that be have deemed this event reason enough, huh? The Reckoning is at hand, and the VRIM are on the top of my death list._

* * *

 **A/N:** So that's the end of the… **Fourth wall smashes.**

Reaper: Oh no you don't! Get your ass back in that chair and keep writing! You are not leaving it on that cliffhanger!

Code 089: But… *Light thuds next to his head*

Havana: Now!

Code 089: *Patching up the fourth wall* Nothing to see here!

* * *

 **Earthside**

On the surface the Klaxosaurs were now ignoring the FranXX and solely focusing on attacking the VIRM soldiers.

"What is going on?" An APE said. "Who are you?"

"We have assimilated several life forms from all over the universe and helped them break free of the shells of their bodies." Papa said.

"And the time has come for you humans to embrace your evolution." The VC said.

The three remaining APE's bodies were scanned by a gold beam. When it reached the top of their heads it converted to a gold beam of light and shot into the depths of space. Their bodies dropped, lifeless.

" _There exists a form of pleasure that is gentle, and perpetual. And you will now experience it."_

Several golden beams of light shot up from the remaining plantations, taking the souls of all the adults inside.

Gaia was struggling and snaring as the vines dug deeper and deeper into her skin. Hiro managed to free his hands and grabbed the tentacles that where holding him in place. This caused him to link with Gaia's mind and causing him to experience her memories. _"You have been alive since before humanity? How long have you been alive?"_

Outside, Papa and the VC suddenly spoke to Reaper Alpha personally.

" _We will be taking you 8 with us as well. Your strength will make excellent additions to our army."_

Reaper and his squad groaned and their FranXX began to panic thinking that their pilot's souls were about to disappear. A shadowy haze then covered the area and the pressure that Reaper and his squad were feeling vanished. This also prevented the children's souls from being taken as well.

" **They, are mine.** " A dark voice said causing everyone to shudder in fear.

" _Who are you to tell us what to do?"_

A piece of land with several VIRM soldiers on it was suddenly obliterated for no reason, black lightning lingered in the area.

Seeing that, they retreated to above the planet to observe the explosion. The VIRM then began to attack anything on the field, Klaxosaur or human. They soon heard the screams of the parasites as they were being consumed by the VIRM.

"Hey, who are we supposed to be fighting here?" Delphinium asked.

"Ichigo! Order the parasites to fall back!" Crow said.

"What?!"

"Just do it! They are going to die if you don't!" Snake said.

"What do we do now, Reaper?" Raven asked.

"The apocalypse seal has been broken. It is time to summon master." Reaper said.

They exited their FranXX and formed a circle by crossing their scythes. Their FranXX forming a second circle facing outward, prepared to defend them from any VIRM that would try to attack them.

"Reaper what are you doing?" Delphinium asked.

When Reaper and his squad spoke next their voices were magically amplified, causing all conflict to stop.

"He goes by many names." Crow said.

"The Reaper, The Harvester, Granter of Eternal Sleep." Reaper said.

"Sealed away by the powers that be," James said.

"He has served for eternity." Cypress said.

"Guarding the gates of Heaven and Hell, living in the land were man cannot dwell." Havana said.

"We have served on our master's behalf, claiming those who have strayed from the path." Snake said.

"As we too waited for that coveted day." Owl said

"That our master would be allowed to return to the fray." Raven said.

( **Play Darkness by Revolt Production Music** )

" _The day of Reckoning has finally come!"_ They all said. _"Humanity's actions shall now be judged! Soon all will fear his name! RISE, GRIM REAPER! THE ANGEL OF DEATH!"_

In the center of the circle that Reaper Alpha had made, the shadows condensed into a swirling vortex. When the vortex faded, a figure stood there. It had a long cloak covering all of his body, there was a large scythe on his back and he had a skeleton face and hands. The figure began laughing, a deep haunting laugh that scared the living daylights out of anyone who heard it. Reaper Alpha kneeled before him, Death had been unleashed onto the field of battle.

" _ **HeheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**_ _!"_

"Who is that?" Zorome said.

" _That, is our pilot's master. He is Lord Death, the harvester of souls and inventor of death. When you die, it will be him that you will face. He will decide whether you will go to paradise or go to hell. He is a divine being. The third most powerful being in the universe, topped only by Lucifer and the Creator himself."_ Black Rose said.

One VIRM was foolish enough to try and attack Death. He let out a shadow wave that cleared a section of land 5 miles long of enemies. He then looked down at Reaper Alpha who were still kneeling before him.

" _Rise, my children."_ He said, and Reaper Alpha stood up. _"Thank you for summoning me back to this world. It is time you took on your true forms."_

Death pointed a hand at them and they were consumed by black fire.

…

"No, it can't be." Dr. Franxx said staring at the screen. "I never believed that they existed."

"Who is that, Doctor? And what is happening to Reaper 1" Hachi asked.

"One of the divine beings, Death. The third most powerful being in the universe. Now I understand. I should have known what I was dealing with the moment they used umbrakinesis."

"What are you talking about Doctor?"

"Reaper and his squadron are Death's riders, the Horseman of the Apocalypse."

…

When the black flame died down, Reaper and his squadron had changed. Reaper and Havana both had double bladed scythes on their backs and had hoods over their heads. Crow and Raven had two pistols strapped to their sides and had become pale as ghosts and were very thin. Cypress and Snake had gained a heavy amount of armor and they both had two massive swords on their backs. And finally, James and Owl had serrated swords and were surrounded by a red fire that didn't seem to burn anything. They were all riding undead horses as well.

" _Go, my riders, and do a lap of the battlefield. Show them why it is I that they should fear."_

…

Down below, Dr. Franxx and Hachi were pouring over the diagrams of Strelitiza Apus.

"Since the detonation stalled since Code 016 connected…" Dr. FranXX said.

"It's a backdoor code?" Hachi said.

"It's targeting the Rampage mode. They programmed it so that the mode's overload would cause an internal explosion." Dr. Franxx laughed. "They got me. They got me good. If this thing blows, the planet will go with it."

"And Hiro prevented that?"

"All he's done is slow it down. As things stand, it will reach critical in…"

The screen showed a timer counting down, it showed 72 minutes

"That's how much time my darling bought us, huh?" Zero Two said from the door.

"Zero Two?" Hachi said as she collapsed.

…

Back on the surface, the battle had started again, and it was decidedly one sided. Death and his Reapers were dominating the battle field. Reaper Alpha was doing laps around the field while Death was slaughtering large swaths of enemies. Whether they be VIRM or Klaxosaurs, if they stood before him, they died, no questions asked.

" _Reaper, summon Cerberus. He hasn't been fed in a while."_ Death said.

"Yes, my lord."

Reaper slammed the butt of his scythe into the ground and a large shadow portal opened before him. Out of said portal came a massive 3 headed dog with a spike collar. It looked around at the battlefield with interest before looking back at Reaper and wagging its tail.

" _Oh, Cerberus! Dinner time!"_ Death said tossing Cerberus a VIRM soldier.

The center head snapped it up eagerly. Death then pointed to a large group of VIRM soldiers.

" _Go get them boy!"_

 _Arf! Arf! Arf!_ Each of the heads barked before running after the group causing them to panic and attempt to flee. Cerberus eagerly tore into the VIRM and quickly made quick work of them before chasing after more, barking his head off like a puppy.

" _Adorable, isn't he?"_

"Indeed, my lord."

Out of the corner of his eye, Reaper saw Reaper Beta going toward the Gran Crevasse. Death looked at the children before turning back toward Reaper.

" _You have your mission. Myself and Cerberus will be fine here, defend them."_

"At once, my lord. Reaper Alpha! Form up on Reaper Beta, defensive circle! Make sure they get to the Gran Crevasse."

"Yes, Alpha!" They said and peeled off from their previous track and rode to Reaper Beta surrounding them and providing an escort.

" _Reaper Beta, huh? I suppose I could take them under my wing. I would be nice to have another squad, even if they don't have umbrakinesis."_ Death thought.

As they approached the Gran Crevasse, a super Lehmann class burst from the ground and snapped up a VIRM soldier. The Klaxosaur was blocking their way so Reaper Alpha and Beta stopped. The Klaxosaur was then cut in half by 9 Alpha's FranXX.

"You guys…" Reaper growled.

"What are you doing here? This is not your post." Alpha said.

"And you think that you have the right or the ability to order us around?" Owl said.

"I wasn't talking to you." Alpha said.

" _Watch your tongue, mortal. I don't take kindly to others talking down to my Reapers."_ Death said as he passed by, annihilating a group of Klaxosaurs.

"Abandoning your post without permission can be consider disobeying orders." Beta said.

"Return to your assignment and follow Papa's orders." Gamma said.

"That is meaningless at this point. The bomb-" Chlorophytum started to say.

"That isn't your call to make. Its Papa's." Epsilon said.

"Your Papa abandoned you. You should think for yourselves." Havana said.

"'Think for yourselves'? Are you stupid? Papa's orders are absolute!" Delta said.

Reaper shook his head, they were being blinded by grief.

Behind the 9s a large group of larval Klaxosaurs appeared.

"Damn monsters!" Alpha said. "Kill every last one of them!"

The 9s then leaped into action and began destroying any Klaxosaur which crossed their path.

"They are nuts." Zorome said.

"Damn fools are so blinded by grief that they are going to get themselves killed." Reaper said staring at the 9s and the approaching VIRM.

"Reaper, you can't save them all." Delphinium said to him.

"I know. But that doesn't mean I can't keep them from dying from their own stupidity. Alpha, defend Beta while me and Havana go save some idiots." Reaper said.

…

As Reaper Beta passed Delta she scoffed. "Seriously what's with those guys? "

"Delta! On your left!"

"Nani?!"

A VIRM soldier slammed into her from behind knocking her FranXX over. Several more then join in and began to tear their FranXX apart.

"Delta, Epsilon!"

"Hang on, you two!"

"We will get them off right away!"

They were taking too long. A VIRM soldier had already ripped her body in half and another was tearing her head off.

"No! I don't want to die!" Delta screamed.

"Good! Because you're not!" Havana said as the rode into battle.

"Out of the way amateurs!" Reaper said and the two quickly killed the VIRM surrounding Delta and Epsilon.

Reaper and Havana the rode over to where the decapitated M9 FranXX head was.

"Delta! Epsilon! Can you hear me!" Reaper said unaware of another VIRM sneaking up behind them.

"R-R-R-Reap-p-per! Delta sobbed back.

"Yes, Delta. Its me." Reaper said.

Then the VIRM attempted to attack Reaper. Before it could however, a large red portal appeared behind it and a red hand shot out and grabbed the VIRM soldier by the throat. Reaper could feel the heat coming from the portal as he turned his head back and saw the red hand slowly drag the screaming VIRM soldier into the portal before it closed again.

"Your safe now Delta." Havana said, completely unfazed by what just happened. "We are going to get you out of there. How's Epsilon?"

"H-H-He's hurt." She stuttered out. "He isn't m-moving, but I think he is still b-breathing." The poor girl was on the edge of a panic attack.

"Deep breaths, Delta. You need to remain calm. Do what you can for him. We will have the doctor's look at him as soon as you get back. When I return, I will personally look after him, you too, Delta." Havana said, switching into what Reaper called nurse mode.

Reaper trotted over to Alpha's FranXX and slapped it with a shadow hand. "Think before you act Alpha. Your blind adherence to Papa nearly cost you two squad members. You are in way over your head." Reaper levitated the FranXX head over to Alpha and placed it in his hands. "Take Delta and Epsilon and get your asses off the field."

"Reaper…" Alpha said in a daze.

"I may hate you, Alpha, but I will not let you die to your own arrogance. Now get going." He and Havana then rode toward the Gran Crevasse.

…

 **Time until detonation: T minus 30 minutes**

The timer on the screen read 30 minutes when Zero Two spoke.

"Ok I'm going."

"Going where?" Hachi asked.

"To bring my darling back, of course"

"Don't push yourself." Hachi said.

"My darling is waiting for me." She ripped the IV's out of her arm.

Behind her they heard a rumbling but paid it no mind.

"What can you do there? The Star Entity is probably rigged with VIRM traps. Even if you took it back, you would only end up falling into them." Dr. Franxx said.

"So what?" Zero Two said. "The Klaxosaur Princess. VIRM. I don't care. I don't care if I'm a fake, a monster or whatever. My Darling and I promised to be together forever, and that we would go get each other if we were torn apart."

"Atta girl." A voice said from the door.

They turned to see Reaper and Havana standing in the doorway and two dead VIRM lying behind them along with Reaper Alpha and Beta and their FranXX. Havana went over to check on Zero Two while Reaper stepped up to Dr. FranXX.

"Now do you see what you were dealing with Doctor?" Reaper asked.

"Yes, I do. I had heard the stories about you guys, but I refused to believe that there were gods. Now, however you have proven me wrong."

"You appear to be in decent condition, but I wouldn't recommend doing too much strenuous activity." Havana said.

"Thank you, Havana. But I'm going to have to ignore your recommendation." Zero Two said.

"But how will you get in? We learned the door to the entry point can only be opened by Code 001." Hachi said.

"Gaia." Havana said. "Her name is Gaia."

"How do you know that?"

"James and I spent a number of years in her care, so we know a lot about her."

"Anyway," Dr. Franxx said, even though he was interest in hearing about Code 001. "I will go with her."

"You're not going without an escort old man."

 **Time until detonation: T minus 18 minutes and 23 seconds**

"Hiro's connection has delayed their plans, but only briefly. He is most definitely an unknown factor to the VIRM. Gaia, Hiro and you… the three of you together could create a miracle." Dr. Franxx said from Delphinium's hand.

"Really?" Zero Two said.

"It's a highly optimistic view with no basis whatsoever." Dr. Franxx said.

"So, its blind hope basically." Crow said from atop his horse.

"Still…" Zero Two said. "It's better than standing no chance at all."

They heard thumping behind them and Argentea turned to see two VIRM soldiers chasing them.

"Jeeze, these guys just don't give up."

A third then shout out of a side passage and joined the other two as they came to a dead end.

"It's caved in!" Goro said.

"We will have to find a detour. Zorome said.

"There's no time!" Delphinium said.

Chlorophytum then stepped forward.

"Get back guys."

"Ikuno, what are you thinking?" Ichigo asked.

"Futoshi! We are making a hole!"

"Right!"

"Wait, Ikuno! If you do that you will run out of energy!" Raven said, but it was too late.

Ikuno had already charged her Energy cells and blasted a hole through the wall. Her FranXX then deactivated.

"You ok?" Ichigo asked.

"Ikuno," They heard Futoshi say. "Your hair! Its white!"

"Shit!" Reaper said.

"Ichigo, go!" Ikuno said.

"How could I?"

"Ichigo, we don't have a choice!" Crow said.

Genista locked herself in place. "We will stay. You all go ahead."

"Hell no! You're not throwing your life away!" Miku said. "We are staying behind with you!"

"Kokoro." Mitsuru grunted in pain. "I agree with them. We should fight here together. Besides we will need the manpower to beat these guys."

"There you have it! Get going!" Miku said.

"Crow, Raven, stay behind with them." Reaper ordered.

"Yes Alpha."

"Good hunting you six." Reaper said.

"Ichigo, let's go." Goro said.

"Get Hiro for us, Zero Two." Ikuno said.

"Yeah, when you get back we will hold a big feast! We will bake several of your favorite sweet things, too!"

"Take care of Chlorophytum." Ichigo ordered. "And don't you dare die!"

"If you die, I will be dragging your asses back!" Cypress said.

"Let's go!" Goro said.

"Yah!" Reaper said as their horses galloped after Delphinium.

…

"Crap! There is another one! It's going to catch up!" Goro said.

"Well, it looks like this is our stop." Cypress said.

"We will hold it off Alpha. Get going." Snake said as the brought their horses to a stop.

As they left Cypress and Snake behind, Ichigo asked.

"How much farther, Zero Two?"

"It's just ahead!"

There was a large gap that Delphinium had to jump.

"Reaper, how will you get across?" Goro asked.

"Don't worry about us just jump!" Owl said.

Delphinium jumped and landed safely across on the other side. As Reaper and the others approached the gap, Owl lifted her hand and an ice bridge formed connecting the two platforms. They just got to the other side of the bridge, two more VIRM soldiers appeared.

"There!" Zero Two said.

"We won't make it." Goro said.

Delphinium skidded to a stop and placed Zero Two and Dr. Franxx on the ground.

"You all had better come back together." Ichigo said. "If any of you are missing, there will be hell to pay!"

"Ichigo, Goro! Don't be a fool!" James shouted.

Delphinium had turned to face the two VIRM soldiers and did not hear him.

"You will never get past!" Goro said and attempted to stab the two VIRM.

She managed to get the first one but the second blocked her spear and tackled her to the ground. She grabbed her spear again and attempted to stab it, but the soldier grabbed the offending arm and ripped it off. Ichigo screamed in pain.

"Damn you!" Owl said, and she rode forward prepared to attack the VIRM herself.

"Stay back!" Goro said. "This one is mine!"

Goro then activated Delphinium's thrusters and the two rocketed toward the abyss that surrounded the Star Entity and fell off the edge, plummeting into the darkness below. Zero Two, Reaper and the others ran to the edge.

"Ichigo, Goro!" Zero Two shouted.

There was silence and tears gathered in her eyes.

"They're not dead." Reaper said. "I can assure you of that. I would know."

A ripping sound was heard as Dr. Franxx tore off the clothing surrounding his fake arm. In the center, was a container filled with blue liquid as well as a few black hairs.

"Dig in. It's your master's arm." He said.

Several tentacles emerged from the door and grabbed the arm and ripped it off.

"Doctor?!" Zero Two said.

"It was Gaia's cells. It didn't turn me into a Klaxosaur like I hoped but this will do."

"You are a sick man. Trying to turn yourself into a Klaxosaur, you disgust me." Reaper said.

The door however remained closed.

"What? That should have worked." Dr. Franxx said.

"Maybe there wasn't enough blood?" Zero two said.

"We don't have time for this." Reaper said and walked toward the door.

He held up a hand and a ball of shadow appeared, and it quickly grew.

"Knock, knock bitch!"

He then blasted a hole the size of the door through the area.

"There we go." Reaper said.

"Get going." The doctor said.

"Doctor?" Zero Two said

"It's the least I could do to atone. I won't ask for forgiveness. Feel free to hate me. I deserve it for what I have done to you."

They heard a growl behind them. Reaper and the others stepped in front of them scythes drawn and faced down the snake that was growling at them. It stopped growling at blinked. It looked at Reaper and the others and gave a small bow, as if respecting their strength. It then nodded at Zero Two and looked at them. Reaper and the others slowly stepped aside and allowed the snake to approach. It lowered its head as it approached and opened its mouth.

"Are you telling me to ride you?" Zero Two said.

"We are running out if time." Owl said. "If it can get us to Hiro, we need to take it."

"Got it." Zero Two said and ran toward the snake.

Just before she mounted the snake she turned back toward the Doctor.

"Hey. Did you take me to Plantation 13 to reunite me with my Darling?"

"Who knows." Dr. Franxx said shrugging his shoulders. "It's not like I was expecting you two to rekindle what you had. It was simply an old fool's whim, a fancy."

"That is so like you." Zero two said.

She then entered the snakes mouth but turned back once more.

"Doctor, I should say this before we go."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for making me and helping me meet my Darling."

The snake then closed its mouth and lunged through the hole that Reaper had made.

"When did she become so human?" the Doctor said.

Owl, Havana, and James rode after the snake as Reaper cantered to a halt beside the Doctor.

"You had best get out of here Doctor. You will be killed if you don't."

"I will never make it out of here, Reaper." The Doctor looked down. "I have made my fair share of mistakes, it is about time I face my punishment for them."

"You do realize that you will receive no quarter from Death, right? You are the reason that humanity broke the Natural Laws after all."

"I am aware. Looking back and knowing what I do now, I realize that there are several moral lines that I've crossed, that I shouldn't have. If Death sends me to Hell for it, so be it." The Doctor then looked at Reaper. "If I may, can I ask you to do an old fool, one final favor?"

"What is it."

"Take care of my daughter."

Reaper smiled a bit at the Doctor. "There is hope for you yet. Consider it done."

Reaper then rode after the others, determined to save the children he had sworn to protect.

…

As they entered the central chamber, Reaper and Co. could see that Strelitiza was covered is pink vines. They rose out of the water surrounding the pedestal that Strelitiza was standing on and were attempting to absorb her.

"Strelitiza… I'm coming, Darling." Zero Two said and raced forward.

"Are we too late?" James asked.

"Not yet we're not." Reaper said.

Reaper and the others ran up the vines covering Strelitiza as Zero Two struggled to turn the emergency lever which opened the hatch. Havana grabbed it with her and together they managed to turn it causing the faceplate to open and they rushed inside.

"Darling? Darling!" Zero two said and rushed over to Hiro.

The interior of the cockpit was completely covered in the pink vines. The largest cluster was wrapped in a column at the pistil platform. The only thing that could be seen was Hiro and Gaia's heads.

"Gaia!" Havana said, and she and James rushed over to her and kneeled to her height.

Gaia weakly lifted her head and looked at Havana and James.

"My children... you came back to me." Gaia said weakly. "Where did you go?"

"We couldn't wait any longer, Gaia. We went back to our loves." James said.

"Foolish…children. Had you waited…just a little longer…I would have had them…brought to you." Gaia lightly admonished. "Are they…here?"

"Yes Gaia, they are." Havana said. "Reaper, Owl, Gaia would like to speak to you."

Reaper and Owl walked over to her and kneeled so that they were in her sight.

"So, you…are the ones…they talked about…so much. You…don't look like much…but it is clear…from the way they spoke…so passionately…about you… that you meant…a lot to them."

"Gaia, I cannot forgive you for taking my Havana away from me. I went through years of pain because of it and that is not something I can brush off lightly." Reaper said.

"But, we thank you for returning them to us. And completing our family once more." Owl said hugging James.

Gaia lightly smiled. "So, this…is what he meant…by fighting to live. We thought that…by isolating ourselves…we could perfect ourselves…make ourselves stronger…I now see…that we…were wrong." Gaia then looked at Reaper and Owl. "Take care…of my children. They…are the most…precious thing…to me." Gaia's eyes closed, and her head slumped.

"Gaia? Gaia!" Havana said, and James held Owl close and closed his eyes.

Over on the other side of the room Zero Two was in a full-blown panic as Hiro wasn't responding.

"Hey, Hey...Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm talking to you, Darling!"

She took her hands off of his face and saw that they were covered in blood. Her eyes widened in shock.

"No…"

The cockpit suddenly lit up red and an alarm went off.

 **Time until detonation: T minus 0 seconds**

"We are out of time." Owl said.

James pulled Owl and Havana in a tight hug and they closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Reaper and Zero Two, however, were not ready to give up.

"No. I refuse to accept this." The two said.

Zero Two's headband broke and her horns expanded and penetrated the ceiling while tendrils of shadow lanced out of Reaper's back and jabbed into the walls.

"I will never give up." Zero Two said.

"I refuse to lose." Reaper said.

Zero Two's horns glowed a bright red while Reaper began to flood the vines with shadow.

"Wait for me, Darling." Zero two said and kissed Hiro.

"You will not take what is mine again!" Reaper roared as shadow shields appeared around him, Owl, James, Havana and oddly enough, Gaia.

The vines began to infect Zero Two as Reaper began to overload the vines with shadow, killing them off. The cockpit then began to glow with white light.

Back with Hachi, he saw on the panel displaying Strelitiza Apus that Zero Two had managed to connect.

"What is this?!"

On the surface, the purple and black metal that was entombing Strelitiza Apus shattered, the pieces crumbling to the ground. Gaia's voice was then heard again.

"Humans, we shall take flight once more. Decide whether you want to fight or accept your ruin."

Strelitiza's colors then changed back to its original red and white color scheme as it began to move. Up in orbit, Papa and the VC looked in as much shock as two emotionless masks could.

"Strelitiza is rejecting all interference." The VC said.

"It broke free of our program?" Papa said.

The purple beams then lanced down from space toward Strelitiza Apus, but it was blocked by a shadow shield. Death then heard Reaper shout.

"Reaper dash Zero One Alpha Alpha Override! Activate Shadow Orbital Defense Network!"

In orbit, several cloaked missile platforms as well as several anti-vessel battleclusters uncloaked and aimed their weapons at the VRIM ships.

 _Multiple destroyer class vessels detected. Engaging targets._

Multiple shadow missiles as wells as shadow beams fired from the weapon platforms destroying hundreds of VIRM ships. On the surface Strelitiza Apus pointed her horn at the enemy and blue and red light began to gather at the tip. It grew into a blue and red ball twice the size of the one fired originally, and it blasted into space, causing the clouds that had formed to part, revealing clear blue sky. The beam tore through space, obliterating every ship that sat in orbit. Effectively wiping out the VIRM Vanguard.

…

Around Strelitiza Apus, the facility was collapsing. In and amongst the debris, Doctor Franxx lay staring up at the revealed sky as he bleed out from his arm.

"I see it…I see it! Ah! How beautiful you are, my Apus. Strelitiza Apus!" Dr. Franxx said.

The ceiling around where he was laying collapsed crushing the doctor and killing him. Death floated over and harvested his soul.

" _You done so much evil in your extended life that I should send you to hell."_ Death said. _"But, the powers that be have decided otherwise. You will be given a second chance, a new life. Do not squander it like you did this one, or else hell awaits."_ Death judged and set his soul off to be born anew.

…

Papa and the VC were not pleased.

"We have no choice." The VC said. "We will settle for the lance of life built from Klaxosaurs. We wanted more, but we will withdraw for now."

The massive lance was colored purple and began to fly into orbit. Strelitiza Apus tried to grab it but it slipped from her grasp. Havana, however was having no part of that. Just as the lance was breaking the atmosphere, it was wrapped in shadow infused light and the VIRM presence was purged from the lance and it returned to its white and red coloring.

" _What are you doing?!"_ Papa and the VC shouted.

"I'll be taking this." Havana said as the lance was dragged back down into Strelitiza's hand.

"We will return." Papa said. "And when we do, we will bring our full army and erase this planet from existence."

" _And we will be ready."_ Death said. _"You will receive your punishment for taking what is rightfully mine you thieves. You will learn to fear the name of Death."_

"We did it, Zero Two." Hiro said.

In the cockpit, the pink vines had vanished, purged by Reaper and Hiro and Zero Two's undying love. Gaia's body lay slumped against a wall. She was breathing but she wouldn't wake up.

"Zero Two?" Hiro said.

Zero Two was propped on the pistil controls staring blankly off into space. Her horns cracked and shattered into a million pieces. Reaper walked over to Gaia and checked her pulse. She still had a heartbeat, which meant she was still alive. Reaper gently picked her up as James helped Hiro carry Zero Two.

"Well guys, let's go home." Reaper said.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Havana said.

* * *

 **A/N:** *looks around to make sure Reaper did not appear out of nowhere*

Code 089: Alright good, I'm safe.

*leans back in char and lets out a breath*

Code 089: Dear god, 10k words and 27 pages. This took way to damn long to write. Welp, hope you enjoyed this extra-long chapter. We are in the home stretch now, just 5 chapters to go, as long as Reaper doesn't make me write another chapter like this.

*fourth wall thuds*

Code 089: Go away! I better get out of here before Reaper breaks the wall again. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!

*fourth wall thuds again and a crack appears*

Code 089: Note to self: next time, use superglue.


	22. Chapter 22: Starting Again

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 22: Starting Again

Good Lord this has been one hell of a week at work, nearly didn't get this one done in time. Anyway, Merry Christmas everybody!

* * *

As Reaper, Owl, Havana, James, and Hiro, Reaper and Hiro carrying Gaia and Zero Two respectively, trudged across the battlefield toward the Birds Nest, Death floated up to them.

" _The battle is over for now. The Klaxosaurs are more focused on fighting those accursed VIRM than attacking humans, so I will retreat for now."_ Death then glared at Gaia. _"Why is she with you?"_

"She is still alive, master. She knows things about the VIRM that we do not, perhaps even where their homeworld is. We need to keep her alive so that she can tell us such things." James said.

Death looked at both him and Havana before sighing.

" _You two both have an emotional attachment to her as well. Fine, she can live."_ Death then looked at Hiro and Zero Two. _"Hiro, she is still alive so there is no need to worry on that score. A word of advice though, don't die again. I can only revive you once, since you are not one of my servants."_

Hiro nodded, not trusting himself to speak to this divine entity.

" _I will see what I can do for your two friends. Since I doubt that you want your friends to die temporarily I will need to call in some favors in order to return their lost memories. Give me some time and I will put them back to normal."_ Death then turned into a formless shadow and dived into the earth and disappeared.

As he did, the undead horse that was following the members of Reaper Alpha melted into dust and the visual changes that Reaper Alpha underwent also faded, leaving them looking like normal. Reaper and the others staggered.

"Jeez, the energy drain that causes." Owl said as her eyes tried to close.

Havana heard something approaching. Turning around, she saw Black Rose and Narcissus approaching.

" _Need a lift?"_ Black Rose asked as she and Narcissus extended their hands down to them.

"That would be great, thanks." Hiro said.

As Black Rose and Narcissus carried them away, the ground shook. Turning around, they saw that Strelitiza Apus was taking off, along with several Klaxosaur ships.

"How?" James asked.

"I don't know and frankly, I don't care right now." Owl said.

The two FranXX then turned and continued to walk back to the Birds Nest.

…

As they entered the Birds Nest, they saw several parasites rushing back and forth as well as several adults.

"So, some adults weren't taken. That's good, they can help provide some direction for the children." Reaper muttered to Havana who nodded.

Havana gestured to Gaia. "Give her to me, she needs to get to medical." Reaper nodded and handed Gaia off to her. "Hiro, come with me. We need to get the both of you to medical as well."

Hiro walked off with Havana toward the medical ward. Reaper looked around at those passing by and saw a familiar face, Hachi.

" _Good, he wasn't taken with the others. The children will need people they trust, now more than ever."_ Reaper thought as he and the pieces of his squad approached.

"Hachi, status." Reaper said tiredly.

Hachi's head jerked up at the sound of Reaper's voice. "The rest of your squad as well as most of Squad 13 are back in the main area packing up. Since most of the adults are gone, we are moving the parasites into the old rooms."

"That's good to know." James said.

Hachi took a good look at them. "You guys look like crap. Where are Havana, Hiro and Zero Two?"

"Medical." Owl said, holding back a yawn.

Hachi chuckled. "Go to the rest of your squad, pick a room and get some rest. There will be time to sort out the chaos once you have had some sleep." Hachi said and pointed them to the main area.

As they entered the door to the main area, a blond blur suddenly tackled Reaper.

"Reaper!" Kokoro shouted as she impacted him causing him to grunt and stagger.

"Nice to see you too, Kokoro." Reaper said.

"Good to see your still alive Ichigo, Goro." Owl said, and the two nodded sheepishly.

"Do us a favor, and don't do that again. Zero Two thought that you two had been killed." James said.

"Speaking of, where are they? They're not…?" Miku asked worriedly.

"Medical. They both had their fair share of injuries from that fight. Havana went with them to make sure they got there ok." Reaper said, as he yawned. "Now, where are we moving to?"

"Second floor." Ichigo replied. "We are just gathering the last of our stuff. You guys can get first pick of the rooms since you all look like you are about to collapse."

"Sounds good." James said.

The group gathered what remained of their stuff and moved to the second floor. Reaper and his squad then chose rooms with Reaper picking the room with a window overlooking the mountains in the distance. As much as Reaper wanted to stay awake until Havana came back, his body's cries for rest could no longer be denied. Reaper was able to kick his shoes off before he fell onto the bed, he was asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

…

When Reaper awoke, he found Havana snuggled into his chest with his arms wrapped around her. She sighed happily in her sleep and snuggled deeper into his chest. Looking out the window, he saw that it was as bright as it was when he went to sleep, meaning that either he was only asleep for a few minutes or for an entire day. Just as he was debating getting up or continuing to lay there with his wife in his arms, the door opened and Hachi walked in.

"Reaper, are you awake?"

"Yes." Reaper said quietly, gesturing to the sleeping Havana who mumbled in her sleep. "How long has it been?"

"You have been asleep for about 24 hours. Havana, a little more than 10." Hachi responded and gestured him to come out the door.

Reaper detangled himself from Havana. As he started to walk from the bed, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"Don't leave me, Reaper." She mumbled in her sleep.

"I'll be back in a while, love. I promise." Reaper said petting her hair.

This caused her to let go of his arm and turn over. She mumbled something along the lines of "You work yourself too much." in her sleep.

Reaper and Hachi walked out of the door and Reaper silently closed it behind him.

"What did I miss while I was out?" Reaper asked.

"Nothing much. The remaining adults that weren't taken have been doing their best to take care of all the parasites but you all vastly outnumber us. We don't have the manpower to do everything that needs to be done, unfortunately. Ichigo has called a meeting of her squad and asked that your squad attend as well but you were the only one awake. The meeting is in 10 minutes in one of the smaller conference rooms." Hachi said.

"Very well, lead the way."

Hachi led him to one of the conference rooms in the northern section of the Birds Nest. Reaper entered and Hachi stayed outside.

"Thank you for coming Reaper, I know you must be exhausted. Where is the rest of Reaper Alpha?" Ichigo asked.

"All of my squad are still out cold. The events of yesterday really took out of us. Such transformations are extremely taxing, even for us."

Ichigo sighed. "I was hoping the rest of your squad would be awake already, but you will have to do. Please take a seat."

Reaper sat in one of the unoccupied chairs and looked at Ichigo.

"I called this meeting for two reasons. The first is that, due to Papa abandoning us and taking most of the adults away, there is an extreme leadership vacuum. Of the adults that were left behind, most are of the rank that Fake Nana and Hachi are and have no idea how to manage so many parasites. Most of the parasites are looking to us due to our combat prowess and reputation and are asking what they should do since they have no idea how to start a life where they can make choices for themselves. We are also running low on supplies. We have enough food and water to last us for a year at most. There are also sections of the Birds Nest that were damaged from the battle as well as about 100 parasites that are unaccounted for. We need to make some kind of decision on how things are going to work from now on." Ichigo said.

"You need to establish a government. That way the parasites have someone to look to for orders and the like. A democracy would be best for the current situation, as everyone would have a say in how it operates." Reaper said.

"We have a list of roles that need to be filled. Is this sort of how a democracy is set up Reaper?" Ichigo asked handing him a list of positions.

Skimming over the list, Reaper nodded and handed it back to her. "That's about right."

"Alright then, the first position that needs to be filled is the role of the President. Normally it would be an elected position," Ichigo looked at Reaper who nodded. "but right now, it needs to be filled. The president presides over the council and has the final say in all decisions. All other positions will report to the president and advise him or her of their status as well as help them handle any situations that arise. So, who would like to volunteer?"

The room was dead silent.

"Anyone? Alright," she said as her eyes landed on Reaper. "then I nominate Reaper to fill the role. He has the most experience of us and we all completely trust him." Ichigo said.

"While I thank you for nominating me, I will have to decline." Reaper said.

"What?"

"Ichigo let me be blunt, the other parasites do not trust me. On my way here, the other parasites avoided me like the plague, they are terrified of me and what I can do. I would be leading by fear if I was president because they would do as I said just because they would be afraid of what I would do to them if they refused."

The room was silent while they digested Reaper's words. Reaper then spoke again.

"I would however, like to nominate Ichigo to the position."

Ichigo looked at him shocked. "Why?"

"The other parasites trust you for one. Two, you have excellent management skills which is necessary to fill that position. Third, you have a more level head than I do, most of the time."

Ichigo was blushing at the complements that Reaper was giving her.

"All those in favor?"

Every hand in the room went up, aside from Ichigo's.

"All opposed?"

Not a hand went up.

"Very well then. By unanimous vote, Ichigo, you are now the new President."

Ichigo blushed harder, if it was possible. "Thanks for putting your faith in me. Moving on, we need to fill the positions of R&D, Engineering, and Maintenance."

"Reaper, since you built the purifier in Mistilteinn why don't you take the second one?" Kokoro said.

"Very well, I can do that. I have most of the know how to put together Snake's crazy ideas so that shouldn't be too hard."

"I will do Maintenance." Mitsuru said and Ichigo nodded.

Then the door opened, and Havana walked in. She still looked tired, but she was wide awake.

"Love, why aren't you still sleeping?" Reaper said getting up and walking over to her.

"Because you aren't there." Was her reply as Reaper guided her to a chair.

As she sat down she leaned her head against Reaper's shoulder. "So, what are we talking about?" she muttered to him.

"The children are working on setting up a government and are filling out various roles." Reaper muttered back.

"Ahem." Miku said.

"My apologies." Reaper said.

As things continued on all the roles were finally filled. Ikuno would take R&D with Snake assisting her at Havana's insistence. Goro would be Ichigo's Vice President. Zorome and Miku would take over the farming operations. James would also assist them due to his affinity for plants. Futoshi, unsurprisingly, would take over rations and food prep after some ribbing from Zorome. Kokoro would take care of the other parasites much like Nana had Reaper Beta, putting her returned motherly instincts to full use. Reaper also volunteered Cypress to assist Mitsuru with maintenance since her strength would be of great use to him. Raven and Crow would take over textile creation since Raven was good at sowing and Crow was good at designing, much to everyone's shock when they learned that. Havana would split her attention between running the medical ward and helping Futoshi cook until he was fully educated on how to cook. Reaper pitied the man, Havana could be quite the harsh teacher. Owl would be assisting in the medical ward as well, since she learned everything Havana knew when Havana died.

"Alright, on to the second matter." Ichigo said and turned toward Reaper. "We already have a general understanding from your FranXX but, who was that on the battlefield yesterday?"

Reaper sighed. "That was our master, Death. He is one of several divine beings that created the universe."

"Wait, hold on. Death is a concept, how is it also a person? And what do you mean one of several?" Zorome asked.

"Death is a concept, yes, but that concept was created by our master. He created it as a final solution, of sorts. You could be the worst person in the world, the most despicable person in the universe, but eventually you will die. You could be the ruler of a country or a world but there was always one person above you, someone you would have to answer to for your actions eventually. Our master created death so that the new could replace the old and change would occur. Eventually, the universe itself will die and the divine beings will have to start again. As for what I mean by one of several, Death is not the only divine being to exist. There are the Fates, the Creator, Lucifer, Lady Luck and Madam Misfortune just to name a few. They each hold the power to alter the universe at will. They are gods, and Papa is nothing more than a speck of dust compared to them. A wannabe who thinks that they can decide the fate of the universe. I told you several months ago, Ichigo, that your Papa was not a god. Now, you see the truth." Reaper said.

"How long have you worked for him?" Ikuno asked.

"10 years at the most." Havana replied. "Master cycles his servants as we wear out. There no doubt has been several hundred of master's servants throughout the millennia, we serve him until we are tired of fighting for him and then he releases us to the afterlife. He picks his servants in groups so there is no conflict between time periods. Had we not been frozen like we were, most likely master would have picked you guys to be his next servants." Havana said.

After the meeting ended, Havana dragged Reaper back off to their room to get more sleep. As they passed Hachi, Reaper asked,

"Hey Hachi, have you found Nana yet?"

Havana stopped dragging Reaper away to look at Hachi.

"Maybe. I received an email from the Doctor that has a set of coordinates in it."

"That man is dead. Our master collected his soul already." Havana said.

"Perhaps it's an automated email then. Either way I'm going to investigate this, so I will be gone for a few days."

"Take care of yourself Hachi, the children need you." Reaper said as Havana began to drag him away again.

…

A few weeks had passed, and things were started to look up. The crops had been planted, they had found the unaccounted-for Parasites, Reaper had built a solar array off to the side of the Birds Nest and had built a battery bank, so power was no longer an issue. Medical was starting to empty due to Havana and Owl's hard work and the food that was being made each day, while not the greatest due to being canned, tasted better than it would have.

They were just starting to eat lunch when Goro burst into the main area which had been converted into a dining hall for the parasites.

"Guys!" Goro shouted. "You need to come with me! Now!"

…

"You have got to be kidding me." Zorome said.

They were outside looking at the crops that Zorome and Miku had so painstakingly work on and planted, crops that were now dead.

"They were growing just fine." Futoshi said.

Ichigo knelt down and lifted one of the dead plants. "I don't understand. We fertilized and watered them just like the book showed us."

Reaper heard a thump behind them and turned and saw Kokoro collapse. "Havana!"

"Kokoro?! What's wrong, Kokoro?" Miku asked.

"Kokoro!" Mitsuru shouted, he then clutched his head in pain.

Havana knelt by Kokoro and quickly checked her over. "She needs to get to medical, now. Owl, help me. Mitsuru, you're coming with us a well, you have avoided medical for long enough."

As the four walked away a transport flew overhead.

"Is that…?" Miku said as they watched it fly.

"To the Docks." Reaper said and began to run.

When they arrived, the transport had just landed. The loading arm extended and off walked Hachi, behind him in an electric wheelchair, was Nana.

"Nana?!" the children said and ran toward her.

Reaper and his squad ran forward as well, concerned as to why Nana was in a wheelchair.

"Nana! I'm so glad your back!" Miku said falling to her knees and resting her head in her lap.

Miku then began trembling.

Please, help…" she said causing Nana and Hachi to look at her in shock.

"Help us!"

"Reaper. What happened?" Hachi said rounding on him.

"Come, and we will show you." James said.

They walked back to where they were and showed Hachi the dead plants.

"They were just fine until today." Crow said.

Nana couldn't get over to where they were so Reaper created a shadow bridge above the crops, so she could roll over to them.

"Thank you, Reaper." She muttered.

Reaper nodded to her and looked down at Hachi. Hachi knelt down and took a plant in his hand and inspected it.

"This is just pure conjecture, but decades of Magma Energy extraction may have depleted the soil itself of life."

"So even the planet itself has rejected us?" Ikuno asked and Miku began crying.

Reaper managed to catch Ichigo before she fell. Taking a look at her flushed face, Reaper said only one thing.

"Medical."

He then picked her up bridal style and carried her back to medical the others following. It began to rain.

…

"Well?" Goro asked as Havana emerged from the curtain surrounding Ichigo.

"She is suffering from shock and overwork. She just needs a few days rest and she will be back to normal."

"Such a fool. Worrying more about everyone else except herself." Ikuno said.

"What about Kokoro and Mitsuru?" Miku asked.

"Mitsuru is fine, I took him with us, so he could get the immunizations that I gave you guys. Kokoro however…"

Havana trailed off as she tried to figure out a way to explain what was happening.

"What is it?" Nana asked.

"When I tested her urine, I found traces of human chorionic gonadotropin."

Reaper looked at her in surprise, he knew what that meant and so did the rest of his squad.

"And what does that mean?" Ikuno asked.

"She is pregnant." Owl said walking up.

Reaper Beta still looked confused.

"She is carrying a baby." Raven said.

Reaper Beta reeled back in shock.

"Have you presented her with her options?" Cypress asked.

"I have." Havana said.

"And?" James asked.

"She has not given me an answer yet."

"What are you guys talking about?" Miku asked.

"When a woman is pregnant, she has two options. The first is to carry the child to term and let it be born into the world." Owl said.

"The second option is to perform an abortion or remove the fetus and kill the child." Reaper said darkly.

Reaper Beta gasped in horror.

"She wouldn't…" Ikuno said.

"It's her choice to make. Don't give your opinion to her unless she asks for it." Havana said. "Now, if you will excuse us we have more patients to look at." She and Owl then walked away from the group.

"If she decides to carry the child to term that boy better claim responsibility or I will cut his head off." Raven said darkly.

…

Later, Reaper was visiting Gaia.

"Come on, come on, where are you?"

Reaper had his hands on Gaia's head and they were wrapped in shadow and his eyes closed. The doctors told him that she and Zero Two had no higher brain function, similar to when a soul leaves its body, so Reaper was trying to find out where they went.

"Nothing."

He lowered his hands and opened his eyes. He would try again with Zero Two, he seemed to get a better connection with her.

"I will find you yet Gaia. I won't let you remain as a vegetable." Reaper said as he turned out the lights and closed and warded the door.

No one knew she was in medical aside from his squad and he intended to keep it that way. Walking down the hall, he heard voices coming from behind Epsilon's door. Listening in, Reaper heard Delta and Epsilon talking to each other quietly. Reaper smiled and walked away from the door, it was nice to know that Epsilon was awake. He had been unconscious since the VIRM attacked and Reaper was getting worried.

Entering Zero Two's room, Reaper saw that Hiro had stepped out for a moment. The boy had been practically glued to her side since they had returned. Zero Two was in better shape than Gaia but not by much, she wouldn't eat and just stared off into space. She also often walked off on her own to a place where she could see the sky, causing Hiro to run off in a panic whenever it happened.

She always had an odd reaction whenever he entered the room though. Like now for instance, the moment he entered her head snapped to his location and her arms rose toward him.

"Hello Zero Two, I'm back. Are ready for another session?" Reaper said as he pulled a chair over in front of her.

He sat down and cupped her face, she did the same to him and they both closed their eyes as Reaper's hands were wrapped in shadow. In his mind's eye, Reaper could see several VIRM ships firing and Klaxosaur ships returning fire. The image then shifted to show that the battle was taking place over Mars. Everything then faded to black.

"I know they are fighting in space Zero Two, but, where are you? I can't help you get back if I can't find you."

The images flashed by again and Reaper felt a feeling of frustration that wasn't coming from him. The connection became fuzzy.

"Calm down, Zero Two. Your affecting the connection. I'm having a hard time understanding what you are trying to tell me. Show me again, slowly."

The images played again, this time at a slower pace. Reaper, however still couldn't understand what she was trying to tell him.

"I'm just not getting it Zero Two."

He felt frustration then pain lance through the connection.

"Stay with me Zero Two." Reaper muttered as he took the pain, causing wounds to appear on his body.

He felt concern come through the connection.

"I'm fine Zero Two, any pain I can spare you I will be willing to take. I know! Try showing your Darling. He has a better connection to you than me, he may be able to get a better picture. Oh, by the way, Kokoro is pregnant."

He felt a rush of joy come across the connection then it felt like someone was chastising Zero Two. The presence had a rather regal feel about it.

"Gaia?"

He felt a sense of satisfaction and annoyance he then felt pain again. This caused him to grunt. He felt concern and fear.

"I will live Zero Two. Stay strong, the both of you. Zero Two, try to show your Darling where you are. The moment we find you, we will come get you. Even if it is only I who can go, I will come get you. I will never turn my back on family. That includes you as well Gaia."

He felt confusion.

"You have known nothing but war and pain in your long life, it's time that changed. Plus, your snake pet misses you."

The massive snake that they rode to Strelitiza was still alive and it missed its' mistress. Reaper was taking care of it for the moment and checking on it every few days. It seems to have taken a liking to him.

The connection weakened.

"I need to go you two. I will get to you as soon as I can."

He then broke the connection with the two and opened his eyes. Zero Two had tears in her eyes even though she was staring at him blankly. He felt there were more wounds on his body.

"There is no need to cry Zero Two, I am fine. Keep fighting, wherever you are."

Zero Two then laid back down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Reaper walked out and closed the door. He then went searching for Hachi, he wanted to know what happened to Nana and why she was in a wheelchair.

…

Reaper found Hachi in the command center of the Birds Nest with Goro. He was using the satellites that made up the Shadow Gaze to look for something.

"Hachi! Zoom in on that part!" Goro said.

On screen, there was a green sphere in the center of the wasteland as well as the imprint of a massive hand.

"Mistilteinn." Reaper said causing the two to jump.

"Oh, hi Reaper." Goro said turning back toward the screen.

"I need to speak with you then." Reaper said looking at Hachi who nodded and turned back toward the screen as well.

"I see. I had heard that Mistilteinn contained soil from before this planet became a desert. The doctor really went all out with making you guys." Hachi said.

Goro's eyes lit up with excitement.

"So, if we start there and gradually expand them outward…" he said.

"We would stand a chance, yes." Hachi said.

"I'll go let everyone know!" Goro said and raced out of the room.

Hachi turned toward Reaper and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to Nana? Why is she in a wheelchair?"

Hachi sighed. "Remember what happened in Mistilteinn before you left?"

Reaper nodded.

"Nana had regressed into puberty. Shortly after you all left, Papa took her away and replaced her with Code 007. As for why she is in a wheelchair, the effects of regressing despite being given the Immortality Injection have caused her body to become frail. She will recover, but it will take time."

Reaper nodded again.

"We also found something at those coordinates and since you have the most experience with it, I thought I would ask you."

"What did you find?"

"Parasites, all of the ones that had been deemed unfit to pilot, they were sealed away in cryostasis pods. We have no idea how to wake them up though."

"I would need to be there and see the controls, but I probably could wake them up. I don't want to do it now though. We don't have the supplies nor the space for several hundred new parasites. We still have to reach the Garden as well, both to reach those children as well as destroy those damn vats, but let's focus on one task at a time. You found a way to get the farms up and running so let's start with that."

Reaper then bid Hachi goodbye and walked out the door. If there was a way for these children to have a happy life, he was going to damn well take it.


	23. Chapter 23: Improvements

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 23: Improvements and Finding Zero Two

Happy New Year Everyone!

* * *

The next day, Reaper decided to go and visit Epsilon. Havana had been worried sick about him since he had yet to wake up but was relieved to hear that he had awoken the previous day. Walking up to the medical room door he lightly knocked.

"Come in." Epsilon said.

Reaper entered the room and saw Epsilon sitting up in the bed. He had deep black bags under his eyes and looked very worn out.

"Ah Reaper. I was wondering when you would come visit us. We have yet to thank you for saving our lives. Please, take a seat." Epsilon said gesturing to a chair.

Reaper was confused as to why Epsilon said we until he fully entered the room. Next to Epsilon, with her head resting on the mattress, was a passed-out Delta. Epsilon noticed Reaper looking at Delta.

"She has been there since I woke up. She filled me in on what happened after the attack and then passed out. I don't know what I would do without her, but I have no idea why she is still here."

"She was concerned about you. After we rescued you from the VIRM, the poor girl was damn near in tears. She has been working with Havana to take care of you, since my wife cannot spend all of her time taking care of you, as much as she would like to." Reaper said.

"Havana has been taking care of me?"

"Quite. She refuses to let anyone besides herself to take care of you. She comes in here nearly every day to monitor you and encourage Delta to leave your side every once and a while to eat and sleep. She was getting very worried that you would never wake up, you were unconscious for several weeks."

"Yeah, so I've been told." Epsilon shifted in the bed using his hands. "I will never pilot again. Delta told me that my spine was shattered in too many places to be fixed."

"It is the unfortunate truth. Despite all the advances in science and medicine we know, total spine replacement is not something we can do. You will be unable to walk as well."

"I know." Epsilon sighed.

Delta shifted and groaned in her sleep, and Epsilon looked at her with a fond expression.

"When she told me I would never walk again, she cried and cried and cried, telling me it was her fault because she was piloting. I told her that anyone could have been piloting and the result would be the same, but she didn't buy it." Epsilon looked at her again. "Can you do me a favor, Reaper? When you leave, can you take her with you? She only fell asleep a few hours ago and I think she would be more comfortable sleeping in her own bed instead of here."

"Certainly. You are awful calm about this though Ep. Most people would be panicking at the thought of never being able to walk again."

Epsilon sighed. "We should have withdrew when that skeleton entered the field, but we didn't. I have to accept the consequences of my actions and this is the price. How is everyone else?"

"My squad and most of Reaper Beta are fine. Zero Two, however, is not in the greatest condition."

"Reaper Beta?"

"Squad 13."

"Ah. What is wrong with Zero Two?"

"The best explanation is that she is not all there at the moment. She stares blankly off into space and tends to walk off randomly."

Epsilon hummed, and Delta shifted in her sleep again.

"Go on and take her out of here. She needs proper rest." Epsilon said.

Reaper gently scooped Delta up and walked toward the door.

"When I see Havana again, I will send her your way. She will want to do a checkup on you now that your awake."

Epsilon nodded, and Reaper walked out the door. As Reaper walked down the hallway Delta began to wake up.

"Reaper?" She asked sleepily.

"Yes Delta, its me."

"Where is Epsilon?"

"Still in his medical room. He asked me to take you back to your room to get some proper sleep."

"Want to stay." She lightly protested as her eyes fell back closed.

"You can see him later, after you have gotten more sleep."

As he continued down the hallway he passed Havana who was staring at him in confusion.

"She fell asleep in Ep's room and he asked me to take her to her room to sleep."

Havana nodded. "I told her that she needed to get some sleep in her room, but she refused to leave his side. Is he awake?"

"Yes. Go ahead and check on him, I told him to expect you."

"She nodded and walked down the hall, heels tapping on the floor. Reaper entered the living quarters of the Birds Nest and easily found Delta's room. Entering, he placed her on the bed and tucked her in. She mumbled something about not letting Epsilon die as he did so. He quietly closed the door and walked away.

…

Later when Reaper was walking down one of the hallways, he looked out the nearby window and saw Zero Two standing in one of the courtyards with the metal trees. She must have wandered away again, and Hiro was nowhere in sight. Reaper walked to the nearby door which led out to the courtyard and approached her. As usually her head snapped toward him taking her eyes off the sky.

"You know that you worry your Darling every time you do this, right?"

Zero Two gave no reaction and since he was not connected to her he didn't know what she was feeling.

"Come on, let's get you back inside."

As he began to take her inside several wounds appeared on her body as the sky flashed with light from far off explosions. Reaper looked at the wounds and covered them in shadow, healing her while taking the damage himself.

"Where are you that you are taking so much damage?" he muttered.

Zero Two then moved and pointed a finger skyward.

"Space… Why and how and where are you in space though? That's not a place a soul randomly goes to."

Zero Two did not react.

Reaper sighed and walked her inside. He took her back toward her room and placed her gently on the bed. Hiro was still not around.

"The sooner you show your Darling where you are, the sooner we can come help you two." He looked at her sadly. "Give me something, anything, some kind of clue to where you are. It hurts me more than you know to see a squad member and friend of mine to be hurt and not to be able to do a damn thing about it."

Zero Two did nothing and Reaper sighed.

"Keep fighting you two."

As Reaper headed down the medical ward hallways he saw Nana outside a room struggling to stand from her wheelchair. He walked over to her and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and stood on shaky legs.

"Easy, Nana. Small steps." Reaper said.

She nodded and turned toward the room. Inside, there was a parasite that was curled in a ball, they were shaking with silent tears. Nana carefully walked forward, using the bed and nearby dresser for support and approached the parasite before getting on her knees.

She reached out with a hand toward their head but jerked back. She tried again and nearly made it before jerking back again. Reaper stood silently in the doorway. _"Come on, Nana, you can do it. Showing concern for a parasite isn't a banned thing anymore."_ He thought. Nana withdrew her hand and curled up on herself before attempting to stand. _"Don't!"_ Reaper thought, mentally willing Nana to gather the courage and comfort the parasite. Nana then got a determined look on her face and with both hands pulled the crying parasite to her chest and began muttering comforting words to them. Reaper smiled. _"Good job, Nana."_

Once the parasite had calmed down they passed out and she tucked them back into their bed. Nana turned toward the door and saw that Reaper was still standing there and blushed, embarrassed that he saw her do such a thing.

"There is nothing wrong with comforting a frightened child, Nana. Such things are no longer prohibited." Reaper said.

Nana still looked away embarrassed.

" _There is, however, something I need to fix."_ Reaper thought. He stepped forward and pulled Nana into a hug.

"Reaper, what…"

Nana was then wrapped in shadow from Reaper. She could feel herself getting stronger, the fragility caused by her regression going away. She then heard Reaper's voice in her head.

" _I will not let you carry on in this state Nana. Your strength is needed, now more than ever."_

When the shadow dissipated, Nana was seen standing tall once more. No trace of shakiness or weakness remained. Nana then looked at Reaper and he answered the question she was asking with her eyes.

"I cannot let the parasite's surrogate mother remain in such a state. They need you."

"Surrogate…mother?"

"That's right. All of the parasites here look up to you, Nana, as one of the few adults left that can show them what to do. You did an excellent job in raising Squad 13, all I ask is that you do the same for these children." Reaper said gesturing toward the sleeping parasite.

Nana then nodded with a determined look on her face.

…

A week had passed, and things were changing rapidly. With the soil that they had pulled from Mistilteinn, the crops were now growing properly with no signs of the former decay that the others had. Zorome, Miku, and James were busting their asses to take care of the fledgling crops and the others assisted when they could.

Futoshi had finally learned enough that Havana was satisfied with leaving him in control of the kitchen and he, and the small army of parasites he had working under him, managed to continuously feed the parasites and adults that were residing within the Birds Nest. Kokoro and Nana, who had shocked everyone by being up and walking the next day, were doing their best to keep the parasites cared for and calm.

Havana and Owl were releasing more parasites from the medical ward per day. Epsilon was released not three days ago to Delta's joy. Reaper had quickly learned that Epsilon had a sharp mind and sent him to assist Ikuno in R&D. They had come to him with some rather outlandish designs that, when he built them, actually worked quite well. Reaper had been busy shifting the Birds Nest off of Magma Energy power and onto wind and solar. Ichigo had banned the use of Magma Energy and he was given orders to cycle all energy sources off of it ASAP. Snake was given priority orders by Reaper to finish the cell degeneration cure he was working on and did so with a fervor. Ikuno's condition was really worrying the poor man and he often worked himself to exhaustion trying to complete the cure.

Reaper was working on one of his solar arrays when a parasite came running up to him.

"R-01, I was asked by Code 015 to come get you and take you to the medical ward."

"Her name is Ichigo and mine is Reaper." He lightly chided.

He had been trying to get the parasites to call them by name over the past week. He was having some success but not much. He packed up his tools and followed the parasite toward the medical ward where he met Ichigo.

"What's the problem, Ichigo?" Reaper asked.

"It's the 9s." she replied.

Reaper growled. Even though they were taking care of them they were still being a pain in the ass!?

"We lost Theta, Eta, and Zeta last night. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma would be fine, but they refuse to eat and take their medication."

Reaper sighed. While he did not know the triplets very well he was sad to hear them go. He would have to ask his master later what his ruling on them was. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma however he could do something about.

"It seems that I need to slap some sense into them. Very well, I will go talk to them." Reaper said and started down the hall toward their rooms.

"Reaper!" Havana shouted to him, having overheard the conversation. "They may have given up on living, but they are still my patients. Don't give them anymore injuries."

"No promises."

Reaper continued down the hall and entered Alpha's room first. He closed and locked the door. Alpha was in a pitiful state. He had massive black bags under his eyes and was wasting away into nothing.

"How the mighty have fallen." Reaper said causing Alpha to jerk his head up.

"Reaper." Alpha growled.

"Hello asshole."

"If you've come to gloat, go ahead and kill me."

"Death's too easy. I'm not going to put you out of your misery just because you ask for it. Now, we are going to get to the root of this problem. We give you food and we give you medicine, why do you refuse to take it?"

"I don't need food. I need maintenance."

"Maintenance is not a thing that is going to happen anymore Alpha. The medicine we give you is what is going to keep you alive. Both Delta and Epsilon have taken it and are up and about just fine. You have given up, why?"

"Papa abandoned us. I have no purpose."

"Bullshit."

Alpha gave a hollow laugh. "You have been the biggest pain in my ass since you showed up. Why are you trying to help me now?"

"I have no interest in helping you, Alpha." Reaper said stepping forward. "The only interest I have in you, is making you suffer. Remember, your soul belongs to me and I intend to collect, but not while you are in this pathetic state."

Reaper grabbed Alpha's arm and, quite literally, began to drag him toward the door. With the weak state that Alpha was in, he could do little more than protest at the treatment.

"You don't get to throw in the towel just because life got hard. This is all shit that you have manufactured in your head. Delta and Epsilon are fine, so you should be fine too."

Reaper then unlocked the door and dragged Alpha out. He passed Havana in the hallway and she looked at him in shock.

"Reaper, what the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"Putting his sorry ass to work."

Reaper dragged Alpha out of the medical ward and outside of the Birds Nest. He dragged him over to the farm plots that Zorome was making and saw one of Zorome's assistants, Code 587.

"Hello Reaper, how can I help-AHHH!" she shouted as she saw Reaper dragging Alpha behind him.

Reaper deposited Alpha at her feet. "Someone get me a hoe!"

A hoe came flying toward him from the right and Reaper caught it.

"Thanks, Zorome."

Zorome nodded and went back to work.

"Stand." Reaper ordered.

"Reaper, I-"Alpha said.

"Stand up, Alpha." Reaper growled.

Alpha struggled to his feet after collapsing twice. Reaper handed him the hoe.

"This is called a hoe, its used for farming. Food no longer magically appears on the table, we have to grow it ourselves. Starting today, you are going to help with that process. If you can't figure out how to do it, ask someone else. I'm sure they would be more than happy to explain it to you."

Reaper then turned to Code 587.

"He is to plow an entire row by himself. I don't care how long it takes."

"Understood, Reaper." She said shakily.

Reaper smiled her. "You remembered my name. Good job."

Reaper then turned and walked back toward the medical ward. As Reaper entered the medical ward Havana was waiting for him. She was tapping her foot on the floor and was wearing the white lab coat she wore when in the medical ward.

"Where did you go with him?" she demanded as she fell into step with him.

"Out to the fields to do work." He then looked at her confused. "When did you start wearing glasses?"

"Huh?"

She then patted her face and felt that she was wearing glasses. She 'eeped!' and quickly took her glasses off, looking embarrassed.

"I need them to read the medical documents."

"Why did you take them off? You looked adorable with them on."

She blushed harder. "Thanks Reaper." She then turned and walked down an adjacent hallway with a small smile on her face.

With Havana sufficiently distracted, Reaper repeated the procedure with Beta. He walked into the room, unceremoniously dumped Beta onto the floor and dragged him out to the fields. Reaper gave him to Code 587 with the orders to not let him leave until he plowed a row by himself. Gamma was awake when he entered the room due to the noise the other two made. He was livelier than the other two, but all this did was made him do was yell and carry on as Reaper dragged him out to the fields. Code 587 was expecting him at this point and was not surprised to see Reaper dragging yet another parasite out to her and had a hoe ready. She gave it to him and showed him his workspace. Alpha was staring at him in shock as he leaned up against his hoe.

"You best get to work. It gets very cold out here at night."

…

The following evening, Reaper and Havana was taking were taking a walk through the fields looking at the progress. This was the first time in a few days that Havana has been able to escape the medical ward and not be absolutely exhausted. Their peaceful walk was about to be disturbed however.

"It's very nice to see all the progress we have made. We might yet be able to see our dream become reality." Reaper said.

"Yeah, oh guess what?" Havana said.

"What?"

"Kokoro gave me her decision."

"And?"

"She has decided to carry it to term. Mitsuru has also decided to take responsibility and help raise the child."

"That's good. It will be nice to see fresh life once more."

Hiro then walked up to them with his head down.

"Hiro? What's wrong?" Havana asked concerned.

"I know where Zero Two is."

"What?" Reaper asked.

"I know where Zero Two is."

"Where? Where is she?" Havana asked.

"She is in Strelitiza Apus. Up in space."

"Son of a bitch." Reaper said. "That's what she was trying to tell me."

"Ok, so she is in space. How do we get there?" Havana asked.

"What do you mean we?" Hiro asked. "Only I'm going."

"The hell you are." Reaper said.

"But…" Hiro said.

"This is not up for discussion. Now, how are we going to get up there?" Reaper said.

"I believe that I can help with that." Hachi said walking up behind them.

…

In the Command Center of the Birds Nest, Hachi connected to the Shadow Gaze and accessed the satellites.

"A few days ago, Goro approached me to look for additional resources. While we were looking we discovered this."

On screen, there was a massive buried Klaxosaur ship. "This appears to be a Klaxosaur mothership but for some reason I can access the internal controls. It appears to be awaiting a command, a command that only humans can give."

"Alright. So, we know where she is, and we have a way to get there, but how do we get her back?"

"Papa said Strelitiza Apus was a mass of life, right? So, it's possible that when those two took control of the Apus, it took Zero Two's soul out of her body and forced it into the FranXX. That means it's also possible that taking Zero Two's body with us and putting it on the pistil platform and destroying the Apus it would force it back into her body." Havana said.

"I wonder if that would work for Gaia as well." Reaper muttered.

"So, we have a way up and a possible plan, but how do we get those two to the Apus?" Havana asked.

"On our way out, I saw a maintenance hatch attached to an elevator which led to the cockpit. That's our door." Reaper said as he began to bring up his communicator. "Reaper Alpha, mobilize. Zero Two has been located. Grab Reaper Beta and report to the Command Center, it's time we end this."


	24. Chapter 24: The Final Battle

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 24: The Final Battle

After Reaper Alpha was briefed on the situation, the decision was made to mobilize immediately. Havana and Owl went to medical to retrieve Zero Two and Gaia while the others went to the hanger to prepare for departure. On the catwalk leading to the hanger Reaper saw all of Reaper Beta dressed in their piloting uniforms, with the exception of Mitsuru and Kokoro. They stopped walking.

"Hey." Hiro said.

"Hey." Goro replied.

"Where are you guys going?" Hiro asked.

Goro pointed up to space.

"You didn't think we would let you go alone, did you?" Miku asked.

"How did…?" Raven asked, they hadn't told them where they were going so how did they know?

"Someone told us." Ichigo responded.

"Master." Reaper muttered.

" _They have as much right to go as you do. They have known her for longer than you have and have deeper connections to her than most of you do. Plus, you are going to need all the manpower you can get."_ Death responded.

"If we don't kick these guys asses, no farm will be able to save us." Zorome said.

"Besides, letting them kill us or just waiting around to die isn't exactly our style." Futoshi said.

"Exactly. Our lives have only just begun." Ikuno said.

Reaper flinched whenever Ikuno spoke, guilt flooding him. Despite their best efforts, Snake had yet to come up with a viable cure for the rapid aging that Ikuno was experiencing.

Nana looked over at Kokoro and Fake Nana. "Take care of things while we are gone."

"Sure." Fake Nana said.

"Let us join you." A voice said.

Reaper turned around and saw Alpha, Beta, and Gamma in their custom uniforms walking up behind them.

"Alpha." Reaper said.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Reaper. I still hate you, but we were made to fight. So, let us fulfill that purpose."

"Outer space doesn't sound like a bad final resting place." Gamma said.

Ichigo looked down. "We don't plan on dying. We are going kick their asses, come back, and make a new life for ourselves."

Alpha simply shook his head and proceeded toward the hanger with a smile. Mitsuru then approached Hiro.

"Hiro…" He trailed off.

Hiro nodded. "You've chosen this battlefield then."

Reaper walked over to them. "Take care of her Mitsuru."

Mitsuru nodded.

"Kokoro." Reaper said causing her to look up.

Reaper knelt in front of her. "You are going to have several hard weeks ahead of you. As something that is traditional from my time, I offer you a gift to give to your new child."

Reaper reached into his cloak and pulled out a gold coin. One side had two crossed scythes surrounded by a black ring. The other had a crest with each of Reaper Alpha's elements on it. A smoky mass for Reaper, beams of light for Havana, falling snowflakes for Owl, a forest for James, a clock for Snake, twirling ivy for Cypress, lightning bolts for Crow, and falling water for Raven.

"The coin is made up of 24 carat gold and, I pray that you never need it, if you touch each symbol, the respective element will appear to defend you." Reaper said.

"Reaper I can't…" Kokoro said.

"Please, take it. You are the first mother in this new world, I want you and your child to be protected from any harm, should we not return. Had we had more time, we would have thrown a baby shower for you and each of us would have gotten you a gift."

"Very well Reaper, I will take it, but I'm sure I won't need it because you are coming back." Kokoro said.

…

As the Klaxosaur Mothership exited orbit, Nana was looking out the window at the vastness of space. Reaper Beta was out testing their newly modified FranXX. Reaper was surprised to find a docking bay similar to the hanger inside the Klaxosaur Mothership. When they parked their FranXX in the bays, several mechanical arms extended out of the bays and scanned the FranXX before making several modifications to them to make them able to be piloted in space. The only ones not modified were the 9s FranXX as, apparently, they were already suited for space combat. Reaper had recommended to Reaper Beta that they go out and test their new FranXX as space was a 3D combat zone, something that they were not used to dealing with.

Argentea did some flips before coming to a stop. "Are you ok Zorome?"

"These are some crazy Gs! I feel like my guts are crumpling up!"

Goro then spoke across the comms.

"And that's after the G-Canceler's eliminating most of it, apparently."

"Seriously?!"

"I don't know why, but this just feels right. I can move a lot more freely." Chlorophytum said.

"That's the benefits of working in zero G. You aren't tied down by gravity, so movement is easier." Snake said.

"And check out the loadouts." Futoshi said as he swung the spear they had around. "Identical loadouts, after all this time. It's like we're a real team now."

"We've always been a real team, you dope." Zorome said.

They then turned toward the planet.

"So, we are really in space, huh?" Argentea said.

"Yep, so far from home." Delphinium said.

…

Back on the Klaxosaur Mothership, Nana and Hachi were with Reaper Alpha looking out the window.

"Look at how much damage they've caused." James muttered mournfully.

Reaper couldn't help but agree. The entire planet was one giant desert with a few splotches of green here and there. The atmosphere, which once had a blue tinge, was now an angry red. Even from space the planet looked inhospitable.

"New space equipment for the FranXX, and all these provisions aboard the ship. Why would the Klaxosaurs leave this stuff for us?" Nana asked.

"It would mean that humanity has been allowed to join the fight for earth." Hachi said.

"Do we really have the right to? After all we've done?"

" _Of course, you do."_ Death said.

Nana watched as a black speck came launching out of earth's atmosphere. It quickly swelled in size until it was almost the same size as the Mothership. As it came alongside the ship Nana and Hachi saw that it was Death, he had been supersized.

" _You have been given the opportunity to right your predecessors wrongs. Everyone is given a second chance to right their wrongs, even in death."_

"He's huge!" Nana said in shock.

"Of course. Space is an endless void of shadow that master can pull from. Aside from the Shadow Realm, master is strongest here." Havana said.

"We best pull them back to the ship, we will be accelerating to cruising speed shortly." Hachi said.

Nana nodded and recalled Squad 13 and the bits of the 9s back to the ship. She then turned back toward Hachi.

"You understand all this?" She asked gesturing toward the keyboard.

Hachi nodded. "Enough to get the gist of it, although Reaper understands more."

"How?" she asks turning toward Reaper.

"The English language has shifted and altered enough over the years that we were frozen to be considered an entirely new language. It is similar enough to this language for Hachi to recognize some of the words, but he doesn't understand it entirely. While for us, it only uses slightly different characters to pre-magma English, so it is easy for us to understand." Crow said.

"That being said, most of the navigation system is automated. In essence, we are being taken along for the ride." Hachi said.

"Where is this route leading to though? What will we find in mars orbit?" Nana asked.

"Apus and a way to end this war." Reaper said.

"At any rate, it looks like getting there won't be easy." Nana paused for a moment. "Is it wrong for me to not want to see those children hurt themselves anymore? I mean, I have watched over them as tools of warfare for so long. Why should I care now?"

"Is thinking that way so wrong?" Hachi replied causing Nana to turn and look at him in shock. "The children's sole purpose in life was to fight. If this is truly their final battle, won't they need someone like you in their lives ahead?"

"Nana, it's not wrong to worry about the children's wellbeing." Owl said. "It's because you have watched over them for so long that you feel this way. I believe Reaper told you this, you have, in essence, become their mother. It's natural for you to worry about them and want to protect them from harm. The oldest among them, Zero Two, is sixteen at the most. They shouldn't have to do the things that they are, but that's the way that things work right now. Once this battle is over, they are going to need you to guide them in this new life."

…

"VRIM fleet detected! All FranXX prepare for combat!" Hachi said over the PDA.

"Reaper Alpha! Mobilize!" Reaper said as they rushed into their FranXX.

The Mothership suddenly lurched and began to accelerate rapidly.

"It's not slowing down?!" Nana said in shock.

"Is it going to plow through to where the Apus is?" Hachi wondered.

A cruiser ship then opened fire on the Mothership. Just before the purple beam struck the ship a shield appeared deflecting the beam. Reaper, who was hanging off the side of the ship with everyone else, saw the Apus and so did Hachi.

"The VRIM are trying to surround the Apus. The Klaxosaurs are forming a defensive line around it too." Hachi said.

"Reaper Alpha, let's go! Link up with Master and clear a path!" Reaper said.

"Yes, sir !" They replied.

"Reaper Beta, your priority is getting Hiro, Zero Two, and Gaia to the Apus. We will handle the rest." Reaper then rocketed away with the rest of his squad as they went to join Death who was slaughtering VRIM ships by the hundreds.

"Come here, assholes!" James shouted as they made contact with the VRIM ships.

After a few minutes of fighting, Reaper saw Alpha's FranXX go flying past them, making a B-line toward the Apus. Reaper Beta was right behind them.

"Damn it. They left too early." Reaper said.

" _Go after them and clear the area around the Apus. I've got this."_ Death said.

"Yes, master."

They broke off from Death and blasted past Reaper Beta to clear the area around the Apus. Reaper was in damn near full fury and was leading the group in terms of kill count. These assholes were the ones that were hurting Zero Two, and that was unacceptable.

"Get away from her you pieces of shit!" Reaper shouted as he obliterated several dozen VRIM soldiers that had landed on the Apus.

"Why isn't Apus firing that huge laser?" Miku asked.

"Because it can't." Reaper said. "The only thing that is piloting it is Zero Two and Gaia and for as powerful as Gaia is, she and Zero Two can't pilot it alone, they need to have a stamen." Havana said.

As Reaper Beta began to approach Apus more and more VRIM soldiers began to appear. Reaper then spoke.

"Guys! Death has orders for you. Death is a master strategist so listen to them and you will come out of this just fine!"

" _In your current formation, you will never make it. Argentea and Delphinium, get in front of Hiro and clear a path, Chlorophytum cover their rear. Beta and Gamma will take care of any that get too close."_

They followed Death's orders and found that it made progressing forward easier however they soon hit a snag.

"Look!" Delphinium said.

In between them and Apus was a literal wall of VRIM soldiers.

"They're trying to keep us away from Apus." Futoshi said.

"Did they realize that Hiro was with us?" Goro said.

"it will be bad news if they block us off." Delphinium said. "Hiro use your FranXX's speed to cut through. We will handle the rest."

"Got it."

Hiro and the others began to charge forward toward the wall of VRIM soldiers.

" _Reaper, Havana, make a hole."_

Reaper and Havana pointed Balance, their combined scythe, at the wall of VRIM.

" _Heaven's Judgement!_ "

A beam of black and white energy ripped through space and blasted a hole in the wall of VRIM, allowing Hiro as well as Beta and Gamma to pass through before the VRIM swarmed the rest of Reaper Beta.

"We made it through!" Hiro said.

"Look there. It's the entrance." Beta said pointing to a square doorway in Apus's stomach.

Just as they were about to reach it however, they were swatted aside.

"What the…" Alpha said.

Looking over his shoulder, Alpha saw a massive VRIM soldier leering over them.

"Surprise asshole!" Reaper said and raised Balance to cut off its head.

"No!" Beta interrupted.

"What?" Reaper growled.

Alpha floated over to where Reaper was and ejected Hiro, Zero Two and Gaia.

"We will handle this one. Get them to Apus." Gamma said.

Reaper caught the three and transferred them to their cockpit.

"Meeting you guys helped me learn a little about what it meant to be human." Alpha said.

In the background, Beta had taken too much damage from the smaller VRIM that had approached. His FranXX was sparking and beginning to glow.

"Well, looks like this is the end of the line for me. It's been a pleasure working with you Alpha." Beta said.

His FranXX sparked one more time before detonating taking a large cluster of VRIM with him.

"But our home is on the battlefield, nowhere else." Alpha said.

Behind him, Gamma had tanked a laser from a VRIM ship.

"If I'm gonna go, you're going with me!" Gamma shouted as he raced over to said VRIM ship before his FranXX too detonated taking several with him to the grave.

"Say hello to Zero Two for me." Alpha said and turned toward the massive VRIM soldier.

"Alpha! Don't!" Hiro shouted.

"It's been kinda fun, I guess." Alpha said before hitting the self-destruct button in his FranXX.

The resulting blast vaporized the VRIM soldier. Reaper shook his head and held out his hand, a white glowing ball appeared, Alpha's soul.

"You never learned. There is more to life than just fighting." Reaper said before closing his hand, sending Alpha's soul to be judged by Death.

"Let's go Reaper." Havana said quietly.

They floated over to the access hatch and Reaper tore the door off. He ejected Hiro and Zero Two into the hatch.

"Get going Hiro, it's time to end this war." Reaper said before launching himself back into the fray.

…

"The ship!" Futoshi cried.

The shield guarding the Klaxosaur Mothership had failed and it was taking direct damage.

"Nana, Hachi, get out of there!" Ikuno shouted.

"Way ahead of you!" Nana said as she and Hachi were racing down the hallways of the ship to an escape pod.

As they were passing a section of wall it suddenly exploded. Hachi grabbed Nana and shielded her from the blast causing himself to get injured and collapsing.

"So, this is it, huh? Just leave me and go." Hachi said.

"You don't get to tell me that after keeping me alive. To hell with that! It's your duty to watch over their futures, too!"

Nana then helped Hachi up and put his arm around her shoulder and the two slowly walked down the hallway to an escape pod and ejected.

"Cease your resistance." A voice said.

"PAPA!" Reaper roared as he saw the infernal star like mass of energy that was Papa and the Vice Chairman. Death cracked his knuckles.

"Is there any point to all this warfare?" the VC asked.

"All lifeforms will eventually merge with us." Papa said

"Surrender yourselves to the gentle, perpetual pleasure we offer." The VC said

"Our utopia is free of all hatred and discrimination between species."

"Klaxosaur? Human? Such distinctions will not matter anymore. Equality for all!"

"And beyond it all, we will attain peaceful eternal slumber and at the same time, endless and relentless evolution."

"Rejecting that to march toward your destruction is far to foolish."

"Now, become one with us."

"To the other adults, that might have sounded like utopia." Hachi said.

"But that's not where the children belong." Nana said. "The flames of their lives will never burn as bright in perpetual tranquility!"

"It isn't a matter of right and wrong. This is simply the path that the children, and humanity, have chosen!" Hachi said.

…

"We are losing ground!" Miku said.

"Yeah, how long is Hiro going to take?" Zorome asked.

"Don't worry. He's always pulled through." Goro said.

"Don't lose hope yet. This battle is far from over." Reaper said as he turned to look at Apus.

" _Come on, Hiro. Even if she rejects you a thousand times over, show her how you have fought tooth and nail to make a life for her. Show her the world that is waiting for her if she would only open her eyes."_ Reaper thought.

Reaper was so lost in thought that he did not hear the dreadnaught laser until it was too late. The ship had come from out of nowhere and was easily the size of the Mothership.

"Shit!"

Reaper spun around and saw that the laser was mere miles from his face and he had no time to put up a shield or get out of the way. Reaper looked at Havana and she looked at him and nodded. This was the end for them. Reaper closed his eyes. _"I'm sorry guys. Looks like you are on your own from now on. Heh, at least I will die with my wife like I should have the first time."_ Reaper thought.

"Reaper, Havana!" Everyone shouted.

Apus began to move. Just before the beam made contact with Black Rose, a massive hand blocked the beam. When Reaper realized that he was not dead, he opened his eyes and saw True Strelitiza Apus looking down at him. Zero Two's face had replaced the face of Apus and it looked like she was wearing a mechanical white dress.

"You're not allowed to die yet Reaper. You still need to come to my wedding." Zero Two said.

Reaper laughed. "May I live to see the day!"

Zero Two smiled at his amusement before turning her gaze at the dreadnaught which dared to fire at them. She held out her hand and the Lance of Life, Hringhorni, wavered into existence.

"I was wondering where that went." Havana muttered.

"Begone." Zero Two said as she threw her lance at the dreadnaught.

Hringhorni flew through space cutting down anything in its path without losing speed. It pierced the dreadnaught just as it was about to fire at Owl and James. The dreadnaught ship bulged before exploding into a ball of purple light, taking most of the VRIM fleet with it.

"Reaper Alpha, cleanup detail. Eliminate any remaining VRIM on the field." Reaper said.

"Hmph." Papa said.

"We will retreat for now, but we will return. Just like we did a million years ago we will do so ag-*Choking sound*" the VC said before Death grabbed the two.

" _You."_ Death said at such a low tone that it seemed that the universe trembled. _"You defy the Natural Laws set at this universe's creation. You extinguish countless species before their time and take what belongs to me. And above all else, you defy the Creator by believing yourselves to be the ultimate species."_ If those masks could display emotion, they would both be trembling with fear.

"Who…are…you?" The VC asked.

" _I am Death. The Keeper of Souls, the Final Judge, and Inventor of the Eternal Sleep. And you, Papa and Vice Chairman, are to be brought before the Divine Council and punished for your actions."_ Death brought his scythe to their necks. _"I will enjoy eliminating your pathetic species when I find your homeworld."_ Death then pulled his scythe across their necks decapitating them.

Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of energy that the two contained, Death's action was like cutting a sun in half. The energy within them collapsed forming a massive black hole while Death was unaffected, Zero Two, who was nearby, was and started getting sucked into the black hole.

"Darling?" Zero Two said worried.

Hiro tried to pilot the Apus out of the gravity well, but it was no good.

"I can't get us out." Hiro said.

Death stared at True Strelitiza Apus before holding out a hand and wrapping it in shadow for a moment. He then spoke.

" _Hiro, I need you to do exactly as I say. On your right there should be a panel with a button that says dsm. Do you see it?"_

"Yes."

" _Hit it. It will dismount Strelitiza from the Star Entity and eject it."_

Zero Two looked at Death with fear.

" _Worry not Zero Two. I won't let you die. Hit the button, Hiro."_

Hiro hit the button and Strelitiza Apus transformed back into the state it was in before Zero Two awoke. Its mouth then opened and Strelitiza was ejected from it.

" _Make sure that Zero Two remains on the pistil platform while I do this next part."_

Death pressed his hands together and two lines of shadow extended out of the Star Entity. One went to Strelitiza and the other connected with Black Rose.

"Huh?" Havana asked.

"Gaia." Reaper reminded her

"Right, right."

Death then jerked his hands apart and the Star Entity, which was a quarter of the way into the black hole, jerked. A moment later Gaia did as well and so did Zero Two.

Another few moments passed before Zero Two's voice was heard over the comms.

"*groan* What…huh?"

Reaper heard the sound of cloth shuffling, no doubt Zero Two patting herself down.

"Darling? Darling!"

"Easy, Zero Two, stay on the platform. We are still in space."

Everyone began cheering. Reaper turned his eyes toward Gaia who had started to move.

"*groan* Oh my head. Where am I?" Gaia said.

"Welcome back to the land of the living Gaia. You are currently in our FranXX Black Rose, in the middle of space."

Gaia looked up just in time to see the Star Entity be sucked into the black hole and it collapse into nothing.

"How?" Gaia demanded.

"Death." Reaper said pointing out the window at his master.

" _We have much to discuss, soul thief, but that can happen later."_ Death said as movement was registered on two of Mars's moons.

On Phobos and Deimos, two antenna like structures came out of the rock and shot out two blue beams of light. When they met in the middle, a type of gate appeared showing an array of stars, different from the ones behind it.

"What the heck is that?" Argentea asked.

"A warp gate." Gaia answered through Black Rose's comms.

"A warp gate?" Delphinium asked.

"Right. We built it a long time ago as a way to connect to a galaxy near the VRIM homeworld." Gaia said.

"Alright then, let's go." Reaper said as Reaper Alpha and Death advanced toward the portal.

"Wait, what?" Delphinium said.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Goro asked.

"Woah, wait up! What are you talking about? We just got Zero Two back so why not return to earth?" Zorome asked.

"The only way to end this war is to kill all of the VRIM. We may have killed Papa and the Vice chairman, but another could take their place and return for revenge." Owl said.

"Let us come with you!" Delphinium said.

"No!" Reaper shouted. "VRIMs destruction is our master's wish and as his servants we follow him wherever he goes. By us doing this we allow you guys to live the dream we always wanted. A world with peace! A world where war and hate don't exist, and people are not dying everyday due to someone else's greed. That was our dream and we finally have the opportunity to fulfill it and we aren't going to waste it."

"But we need you!" Chlorophytum cried.

"No, Ikuno, you don't. We are no better than the 9s, all we know is war and combat. Our memories of the peaceful life are few and far between. Think about it, would a world filled with peace have room for 8 reapers of death? 8 beings who are designed for destruction on a large scale? I don't think so." Havana said.

"I'm going with you." Gaia said.

"No, you're not." Reaper said.

Gaia was then warped to Strelitiza. At the same time several files were uploaded to Chlorophytum.

"Gaia, for all of the million years you have been alive, all you've known is either war or waiting for war. You have never experienced the finer things in life and it's about time you did. Ikuno, within those files sent to you, are all of Snakes notes on a cure for the rapid aging that you and the others are experiencing. Look through them, you might be able to find a solution that Snake could not." James said.

"Reaper, you can't leave." Zero Two pleaded.

"Remember what we told you guys. Come heaven, hell or high water, if you need us we will be there." Crow said.

" _The portal is beginning to close. Let's go."_ Death said.

Just as they were about to enter the portal Nana stopped them.

"Reaper Alpha."

"Yes ma'am?" Snake asked.

"Come back. That is an order, you hear me." Nana said.

Reaper Alpha saluted the pod she and Hachi were in. They then passed through the portal behind Death and the portal closed.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright and done. Ok, just two chapters left so we are almost done… with this one. I already have plans for a sequel in the works, just got to work on fleshing it out. Unfortunately, college starts again tomorrow and while I will try to keep posting one chapter a week, preferably on Sunday, that might not happen due to my odd schedule. Anyways, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!


	25. Chapter 25: The VIRM's Reckoning

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 25: The VIRM's reckoning and Life Goes On

*Camera pans to show Code 089 in the middle of a white void.*

Code 089: Where the fuck am I now? I just wanted a quiet place to write!

*Wanders off in a random direction mumbling to himself*

Code 089: At this rate this chapter is going to be late.

* * *

 **Time skip: 70 days**

 **Location: Space**

 **Time since departure: 70 days**

They had been in space for some time. The warp gate had brought them into a galaxy that was relatively close to the VIRM homeworld but still very far away. Death was tracking the VIRM back to their homeworld by tracing the fumes from their ships. However, since they were unable to travel at lightspeed it was going to take a while to get there.

Reaper and his squad had entered a deep meditation while they were in transit. Their minds were linked together and they temporary existed as a collective consciousness. This was broken at times by VIRM forces who were foolish enough to try to attack them.

" _It's odd."_ Havana said. " _We have been in space for a long time, but I have yet to grow hungry or thirsty."_

" _That's because I'm holding your bodies in stasis._ Death said. _Because of the skirmishes with the VIRM your bodies have only been physically active for about 5 hours. Being held in shadow stasis keeps your bodies from getting hungry and thirsty, no matter how long you are in that state."_

Death then paused.

" _There is an approaching fleet of VIRM. Rouse yourselves."_

Reaper Alpha woke up and reconnected with their FranXX.

"Ready Black Rose? Here they come again." Reaper said.

" _As always, Reaper."_ She replied as they charged into battle with the VIRM again.

…

 **Time skip: 2 days**

 **Location: Earth**

 **Time since departure: 72 days**

Reaper Beta waited for each day for Reaper Alpha's return but were met with silence. But as they say, life goes on.

"It's getting pretty big." Kokoro said with a hand on her stomach.

Reaper Beta was sitting in their assigned area in the common area of the Birds Nest with Fake Nana discussing Kokoro's baby.

"I'll arrange pregnancy clothes for you." Fake Nana said.

"Please." Mitsuru said.

"Please don't give me any special treatment." Kokoro said.

"I must." Fake Nana said tilting her head. "As the first pregnancy, you will be a pioneer and an example. We should do things right to set a precedent for others."

"Very well" Kokoro said.

…

"Hmph." Zorome grunted as he moved a pile of wood.

Reaper Beta was back in Mistilteinn collecting more dirt for new fields and had uncovered the ruins of the manor. Due to lack of upkeep over the months the manor had collapsed, leaving a pile of stone, and rotting wood.

"I'm amazed that it is still here." Ichigo said.

"Try not to explore any unsafe areas!" Nana called.

She and Hachi had went with Reaper Beta as well as several other parasites with trucks to gather the dirt. Hachi had recovered from the injuries that he had taken from the exploding mothership although he was now missing an eye.

"Wow, the plants that were dying when we originally left have recovered." Futoshi said.

"This soil really is something." Ikuno said.

"Maybe Mistilteinn kept all this safe for us?" Miku asked.

"Yeah."

"This will give us a fresh start, just like Reaper wanted." Goro said.

Zero Two was staring off into space with a sad look on her face.

"They will come back, Zero Two. Reaper has yet to let us down." Hiro said placing a hand on her shoulder.

…

Ichigo placed a box on a desk in the office that Ikuno had commandeered for R&D. This was the fifth box that she had brought to her.

"What's in all these boxes?" she asked, stretching her back.

"These are all of Snake's notes on the rapid ageing that we are experiencing. I'm going to continue his work and try and find a cure." Ikuno said rolling up her sleeves.

…

Zero Two and Hiro were outside staring at the sky. Green was starting to spread out from in front of the Birds Nest where the fields were.

"Do you think that they are still fighting?" Zero Two asked. "It hurts to think that Reaper and his squad are out there, risking their lives while we are here living without them. I wish there was something we could do for them."

"We all feel the same way." Hiro said. "But all we can do is focus on the here and now and send prayers to the Creator for their safe return."

Ikuno had found a book in her office one day on the various gods of the old world. No one had any idea where it had come from. With Reaper and his squad proving such beings existed, they had decided to believe in them as well since they had no one else to send their prayers to.

…

 **Time skip: 173 days.**

 **Location: Earth**

 **Time since departure: 245 days**

Mitsuru was running down the halls of the medical ward. He had received some exciting news.

"There he is!" Goro said.

"Mitsuru, hurry!" Futoshi said beckoning him forward.

Mitsuru skidded into the medical room. "Kokoro!"

Nana, Fake Nana, as well as several female parasites were in the room. Mitsuru could hear a child crying. Mitsuru walked into the room and fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock. Next to Kokoro, who was lying in a bed was a baby. Kokoro had given birth.

Kokoro turned her head to look at her child. "Look, there's your papa." She said to the child.

Mitsuru gently placed his finger within the child's grasp and she held onto it. This caused him to cry tears of joy. This caused the rest of the girls in the room, aside from Nana and Fake Nana, to break out into tears.

Awhile later, Mitsuru exited the room only to be grabbed in a large hug by Futoshi.

"Well done, Mitsuru! Your Papa #1!" he cried.

The others then gave him their congratulations.

…

Sometime later, Hachi had taken a fleet of transport ships off somewhere without telling them. With instructions that Reaper had given him, he was able to free the frozen parasites. Reaper was enraged to learn that APE had sabotaged an Ark for their own purposes and had come to the conclusion that they had damaged the other two, so they could use them if they needed.

When Hachi returned and the transports opened, Reaper Beta's jaw dropped in shock.

"Naomi?!" Miku said before running toward her.

Naomi was a girl of average height. She has short, wavy dark brown hair with dark brown eyes. She was Hiro's first partner before Reaper Alpha arrived, but he couldn't connect with her. They thought she had died during a Klaxosaur attack that destroyed her transport pod that was returning to the Garden.

Miku grabbed the girl in a hug and so did Ichigo and Ikuno.

"You guys…" Naomi said with tears running down her face.

She then caught sight of Hiro. Shaking off the others, she walked over to him. Hiro winced when he saw her missing arm.

"Hiro." She said.

"Naomi." He replied.

She looked over at Zero Two who was clinging to his arm before patting his shoulder.

"It's good to see that you found a reason to live. You needed that more than any piloting could give you."

…

Life continued on. Reaper Beta had finally had their first harvest of the crops they had grown and Futoshi had put all the hard work he had undergone under Havana's tutelage to good use in creating new types of foods for the parasites.

Hachi, Ichigo and Miku had set up a school for the current parasites and had started teaching them about how to think for themselves. Mitsuru and Kokoro were busy taking care of their new child and learning what it was like to be parents. Goro and the guys had taken over Reaper's role of engineering and, using some designs that were in his office, managed to figure out how to set up more solar panels as well as several wind turbines using the materials from the destroyed FranXX. Naomi had taken it upon herself to take care of Ikuno who had gotten weaker over time although she did not let her condition stop her as she could be seen working on a cure late into the night.

…

Goro grunted as he placed the final box onto the rover that he had borrowed. It was loaded down with supplies and provisions.

"Okay, I'm going to explore the world. I want to find useable materials for us in the future. I also want to make my way up to the Garden to check on the children there. If it's safe, I'll try to send you a message to come collect them." Goro said.

"It is going to be a long journey, but we are counting on you." Hachi said.

"Take care." Nana said, and she gave him a hug.

"Are you sure you are ok with this? We will all miss him, but you especially will." Ikuno said.

"I'm sure. This is the path Goro has chosen." Ichigo said.

Goro walked over to her.

"Ok I'm good to go." Goro said.

"Alright. Do your thing." Ichigo said giving him a fist bump.

"I can't let Reaper or Hiro outshine me forever."

"Right. Try to contact us every now and th-" Goro cut her off by kissing her.

The reactions of Reaper Beta were hilarious. Miku and Zorome had recoiled in shock and adopted identical poses with their eyes wide. Ikuno had crossed her arms and seemed to be glaring at Goro. Futoshi looked like he was about to punch Goro for daring to do such a thing. Naomi was just confused. Hiro and Zero Two however, just smiled, happy another couple had formed.

Once Goro had drawn away, Ichigo's face had turned beet red.

"H-H-Hey!" she stuttered.

"Ok you guys, take care. And I will go find that thing you asked for, Ikuno." Goro said.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." She said she then shooed him away.

"Later!" Goro said running towards a transport. Nana and Hachi were going to fly him out to unexplored territory and deposit him and his rover there.

"Goro sure has changed, huh." Ikuno said.

And time continued to pass.

…

 **Time skip: 485 days**

 **Location: Space**

 **Time since departure: 730 days (2 years)**

Reaper collapsed the link he held to Zero Two's mind. He had used it to see how the others were doing while they were gone.

 _It seems Kokoro's child was birthed without issue._ Havana said.

 _Life seems to be progressing along without us. I'm glad that they found my designs, I was worried that they wouldn't have enough power as more and more parasites showed up._ Reaper said.

 _Did you see Zorome and Miku's face when Goro kissed Ichigo? That was priceless!_ Cypress laughed.

 _Hey Snake, it looks like Ikuno might have found something that you missed, how does that make you feel?_ Crow ribbed.

 _It doesn't bother me at all. That was why I gave her that research, if anyone was going to find a cure while we were gone, it would be her._ Snake said, not rising to the bait.

 _I wish that we could contact them and tell them that we are alright, that way they aren't so worried about us._ Owl said.

 _Reaper has already tried that, love. We are too far away for him to speak with her, dear._ James said.

 _Alright, that's it. When we get back, we are getting the two of you married._ Raven said causing the two to sputter.

 _Were here._ Death said causing Reaper Alpha to wake up.

In front of them, the space around their home planet was dyed purple. They could see thousands and thousands of ships awaiting them in orbit.

" _You feeble lifeforms, bound to your flesh…"_ A VIRM said.

As the VIRM spoke several others appeared around their FranXX. Death lifted his scythe.

" _Heed our voice…"_

The VIRM was abruptly cut off as Death killed them but another took its place.

" _You are in our territory. You stand no chance here."_ Death killed that one too, but it was replaced yet again by another.

" _Feeble ones, let us deliver you from your suffering."_

" _Kill them."_ Death said, and the battle began.

Reaper Alpha went on the offensive and began to annihilate any VIRM ship that crossed their path but even they couldn't compare to Death. Death was at his full power, so he was sending waves and waves of shadow with every swing of his scythe destroying thousands of ships at a time. Any ship that got within 10 miles of him were obliterated by the rampant shadow energy that surrounded him. But no matter how many they destroyed more always came to take their place. It quickly felt like a hopeless battle. The VIRM then began to speak.

" _Why do you continue to fight, Reaper? Haven't you suffered enough with the loss of your wife, Havana and the years of carnage that followed? Do you not wish to rest?"_

"Stay out of my goddamn mind!" Reaper roared.

" _Havana, haven't you gone through enough pain at your first death? Do you not long for a break after fighting and planning for over a hundred years?"_

A break from all the warfare did sound nice. She was tired of fighting but did not want to leave Reaper.

" _James, do you not wish to have that nice wedding with Owl that you so desperately crave? To not have to constantly postpone your vows that you have worked for years on? Owl, you were recently reunited with the love of your life, do you not wish to spend time with him without interruption?"_

The two looked at each other, that did sound nice.

" _Crow and Raven, you have been in a on and off relationship for years. Constantly postponing making it official because you never had time. Do you not wish for this war to end and have the time to just enjoy being with each other? We can give you that._

The two thought of all the times that they had planned to make it official that they were a thing, but something always got in the way, whether it be a mission or command orders to move.

" _Snake, you have someone waiting for you back on earth. Don't you want to show them that you care for them? To reveal to them that you had admired them from afar the entire time? Give in and we can do that for you._

Snake thought of Ikuno. It was no secret to him that he was in love with the girl but couldn't bring himself to admit it to her because she so fixated on Ichigo.

" _Cypress, you have used your strength to hide the fact that you like other women. Everyone around you has found someone to love except you, wouldn't you like to find that someone? We have found them, they are waiting for you. give in, and we will give them to you."_

" _You all fight for the being that you call Death. Do you all not get tired of doing as he says? Being forced to follow his orders instead of doing what you want? Abandon this foolish man and join us and we will grant you that freedom that you so crave."_

After hearing all that, Reaper's mind became indecisive and scattered. Subconsciously, Reaper reached out for the one person that could help make up his mind, Zero Two.

…

 **Location: Earth**

Zero Two was enjoying a nice day outside with Hiro. They had, had another successful harvest and Goro was slated to return soon. She was just about to ask her Darling what he wanted to do for their wedding when her mind was bombarded with someone else's thoughts, causing her to stagger.

"Zero Two? What wrong?" Hiro asked.

Zero Two didn't respond as all she could hear was Reaper's thoughts.

 _What should I do?_

 _Rest sounds nice._

 _They are doing fine on earth, they don't need us._

 _We've driven the VIRM far enough back where they won't bother them for a long time._

 _There is no place for us there._

 _Spending time with Havana sounds nice._

 _Should I give up?_

Zero Two heard these thoughts and a multitude of more, all overlapping until it made a continuous stream of noise.

"Zero Two?" Hiro asked again.

Zero Two had to sit down. "Reaper." She said.

"What?"

"Something is wrong with Reaper. He has become indecisive and is bombarding me with his thoughts and seems to be asking me what to do."

"Let me see."

Zero Two grabbed his hand and Hiro heard what she was hearing.

"Let me go get Gaia. She might know something more about what is happening."

…

Zero Two was sitting on the ground, holding her head while Gaia was reading her mind.

"It's the VIRM." Gaia said. "They have planted the seeds of doubt into his and his group's minds. He has linked your mind to his and is begging you for answers. He has linked the other's minds as well, you just can't hear them."

"What do we do?" Hiro asked.

"Gather your friends. We need to cast aside their doubts and give them a reason to fight."

As Hiro ran off to gather the others, Gaia held Zero Two's hand and went for the aggressive approach.

" _Reaper, what bullshit are you spouting? Was it not you who told me that I should experience the finer things in life? Daughter, have you not reconnected with your love and have many happy memories with him? Have you not told me over and over again that you would not give up until he was safe from harm? What are you doing now then? My son, you have described the wedding that you wanted to me so many times that I could recite it word for word, the VIRM will not allow you to have such a wedding, they do not believe in love. Quit acting pathetic and get your act together, the both of you!"_

As Gaia finished, she heard the rest of Reaper Beta approaching. She turned toward them.

"What is going on?" Ichigo asked.

"The VIRM are trying to convince Reaper and his group to give in. Reaper has reached out to Zero Two and is asking her what to do. We need to convince them that they cannot give up. Each of you, link up with each other and give them a reason to live."

They held hands and were each bombarded with the thoughts of Reaper Alpha. After sorting their thoughts, they each started giving reasons to Reaper and the others. Counter arguments, words of encouragement, progress updates, a reason to live. As the day passed, more parasites joined in, each providing them with a reason to keep fighting. Eventually Goro arrived and he along with Nana and Hachi joined the ever-expanding group.

"We are doing our best here on earth! Don't give up now!" Ichigo shouted.

 _But you don't need us._

"We haven't forgotten about you guys, you hear me? Not a day goes by that we don't think of you!" Goro said.

 _Why do you care so much?_

"Earth isn't complete without you guys! We gained loads of new friends, too!" Futoshi said.

 _We're your friends? But we are monsters. Killers._

"I'll never let you guys outshine me! You guys showed us how to pick our own path in life!" Zorome said.

"That's right! We promise that we'll all find our happiness, but we need you guys here!" Miku said.

 _We did that?_

"I don't have much time left, Snake. I would appreciate being able to see you before I go." Ikuno said.

 _What are you talking about Ikuno? You not going anywhere._

"Reaper! We've given our child a name! its Ai, the word for love! It's the one that they never taught us, but you did!" Mitsuru said.

 _We did, didn't we._

"Ai keeps asking where you are. She would like to meet her aunts and uncles, so don't give up yet!" Kokoro said.

 _Who said we were giving up?_

"The children need you, Reaper, I need you. I can only teach them so much, even I need a hand from time to time." Hachi said.

 _You need us?_

"Zero Two has been worried about you guys. Aside from myself, you are the only ones she trusted." Hiro said.

 _We were?_

"Reaper, remember what you promised me. I am waiting for you to return so I can have my wedding with you there." Zero Two said.

 _I've never broken a promise._

"I gave you an order, damn it! I told you to come back! You have yet to disobey an order so don't you dare start now!" Nana shouted.

 _Yes ma'am!_

...

 **Location: Space**

" _That's right, the children need you. They have gone through so much with you. You have helped them grow and realize that there is more to the world than the domes they lived in. You helped them think outside the box and realize that there is a future where war doesn't exist. Will you leave them to wallow in despair at your deaths?"_ Death asked.

"No." Reaper growled. "We have gone through too much hell for us to give up now!"

Reaper Alpha then rocketed forward with Death. Intent on destroying the planet once and for all.

"We went through 11 years of war!" Owl shouted.

"Lost thousands of comrades!" Crow said.

"losing two family members!" Snake said.

"Being frozen for 86 years!" Raven said.

"Slaughtering millions of Klaxosaurs!" Cypress said.

"Fighting for what was ours!" Havana said.

"And rekindling lost love!" James said.

" _To surrender to you assholes!"_ they shouted.

Death tore a hole through the oncoming wave of VIRM that were trying in vain to stop them. A line of shadow connected them and they each began charging their respective element. When they were fully charged they fired.

" _DIVINE JUDGEMENT!"_

Their powers collected at a singular point, including Death's, causing a beam of pure divine energy, the size of the planet, to go tearing through space. The beam struck and obliterated the VIRM homeworld, but they weren't expecting the backlash.

The VIRM, over the course of their long lifetimes had collected the souls of trillions of worlds and kept them on their planet. When the beam struck, all those souls exploded outward, creating a supernova. Reaper Alpha was sent shooting off into space in the direction of earth as white light flooded the area. Death used most of his energy keeping Reaper Alpha alive during the blast and was forced to retreat to the Shadow Realm, unable to collect the wayward souls. With the planet collapsing, the various souls fled back to their respective worlds. All the VIRM were killed. As the last one was obliterated from existence it spoke.

" _All of you so-called souls…are you going back to being caged in your bodies? You willingly chose to be shackled by pain and sorrow? We are the VIRM! We…will…ARGH!"_

Black Rose, Lotus, Digitalis, and Narcissus curled in on themselves, determined to protect their pilots and shut down. Wherever they ended up, they would protect their pilots until the end.

…

 **Location: Earth**

White light ripped through the sky blinding those below.

"It's over, huh?" Goro said.

"Did they make it?" Ikuno asked.

"I'm sure they did." Miku said.

"It's thanks to them that this planet can start from square one again." Kokoro said.

"You guys had better not have died." Ichigo said.

…

The light shown on earth for three days. On the fourth day Reaper Beta saw the Klaxosaur ships return to earth and become one with it once more. Returning the earth to its natural state, with grass and animals beginning to spread like wildfire. One week after the light faded, searching Reaper's room, Zero Two found a device that, when activated, allowed her to access his shadow storage. In once section of it there was a massive seed vault. Apparently, when Reaper heard about the desertification process, he had taken it upon himself to collect seeds from every plant in the world for safe keeping. They were each labeled in his neat handwriting as to what they were, so Zero Two brought all of the edible plant seeds to Zorome for him to plant, keeping one of each type still in the shadow storage just in case.

Two weeks after the light faded Zero Two awoke to a knocking on her door. Her Darling was still out cold beside her, so it wasn't him. Opening the door, Zero Two saw that there was no one there. Looking down there were four potted plants at her feet. A black rose, a lotus, a foxglove, and a daffodil. Attached to the black rose was a note. Opening it, it read thus,

 _Take care of them, and they will take care of you._

 _-C_


	26. Chapter 26: The Return

Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron

Chapter 26: The Return

 **Time Skip: 10 years**

Zero Two was outside water her flowers when it happened. A lot had happened in 10 years one of which was that everyone had finally been able to move out of the Birds Nest. She had taken those flowers she had gotten all those years ago and made a small flowerbed outside her and Hiro's home and made sure to water them daily. She was still unsure as to who had sent them though.

Each one of the flowers suddenly lost a petal. As they were dragged away in the wind Zero Two followed them and her eyes saw 4 black specks in the atmosphere. They were quickly growing larger. As they grew Zero Two could see them better and her eyes widened in shock.

"It can't be…"

But it was. There were four black FranXX that were falling through the atmosphere. It was hard for her to tell at this distance, but she was almost sure who it was, Reaper and his squad had returned. Pulling out her communicator, Zero Two called Hachi, Nana, and Ichigo.

"What do you need Zero Two?" Hachi asked.

"Are any of you guys outside?" Zero Two asked.

"No, why?" Ichigo asked.

"Go outside and look at the sky to the northwest and tell me if my eyes are lying to me."

"Ok?" Nana replied.

There was several minutes of silence while they went outside.

"No, Zero Two, they are not." Hachi said.

"Reaper!" Nana shouted.

"Where will it land Hachi?" Ichigo asked.

"It's only a rough estimate, but I would say about 5 miles outside of the city."

"Goro! Ready the car! I know I have meeting to attend but I need you to cancel them. This is not up for debate! We have confirmation of Reaper reentering the atmosphere!" Ichigo said before abruptly ending the call.

"I will go gather the others." Nana said before ending the call as well.

"Once I get a confirmation as to their exact coordinates I will send them to you. You best call Hiro before Nana does." Hachi said and ended the call.

Zero Two quickly called her Darling.

"What is it Zero Two?" Hiro asked.

"Reaper's back, Darling!"

"What?! When? Where? How? Nevermind, meet me at the tree!" He ended the call.

The tree was a Sakura tree that Zero Two had found in Reaper's shadow storage. He had taken a seed from one of the trees in Mistilteinn and planted it there. It was already a decent sized sapling when Zero Two found it, so she transplanted it in the park with Ichigo's permission, it had grown into a rather large tree, for some reason it never stopped blooming.

As she prepared to leave she got a text from Hachi with the coordinates for their landing. " _I wonder what Reaper's reaction will be when I tell him."_ She thought rubbing her stomach, she hadn't told anybody except for her Darling and Ikuno. She got in her car before driving off to the park. On her way, she saw Ichigo's presidential escort pass her by.

She pulled into the park and walked over to the tree and waited, keeping her eyes on the four black comets. Hiro became running up to her a few minutes later.

"Where is he Zero Two?" Hiro asked.

She pointed at the four comets.

"Where?" He asked.

She showed him the coordinates that Hachi sent her.

"Let's go."

The two raced out of the city and were soon given a police escort courtesy of Ichigo because she was tired of waiting for them. When they caught up with them about 3 miles out, they saw everyone was there, even Ikuno, who had been confined to her bed by doctors due to her frail state.

"Ikuno?" Hiro shouted out the window.

"I'm not letting a little frailty stop me from greeting them upon their return." Ikuno said stubbornly.

"I'll keep an eye on her." Said Naomi who was in the car with her.

The group took off again to reach the crash site. The four FranXX impacted before they got there, causing the ground to shake. They arrived a few minutes after the crash and saw the damage. Black Rose and the others had taken a lot of damage during their travel through space and during the landing. They had dug a two-mile trench in the ground and destroyed a small portion of roadway. As they approached the faceplates popped open with a hiss.

…

"Oh, my head!" Were Reaper's first words when he awoke, the next were, "Squad, status."

"We are both ok over here, Reaper." James said.

"Same here." Snake said.

"Were good, too." Crow said.

"What about you guys?" Havana asked Black Rose.

" _We've been better but are still functioning."_ She replied.

"Where did we land?" Crow asked.

" _Earth."_ Lotus replied.

" _And it looks like Reaper Beta are here to greet you."_ Narcissus said.

"Well then, let's go say hello. Black Rose, if you will." Reaper said.

The faceplate opened with a hiss and sunlight flooded the cockpit. Slightly blinded, Reaper held up a hand to shield his eyes and walked out. He was then glomped by Zero Two.

"Reaper!" she shouted.

"Nice to see you too, Zero Two." Reaper said.

She let go of him and went to go hug Havana. Hiro clapped Reaper on the shoulder.

"It's good to see you back in one piece."

"Glad to be back."

Ichigo then stomped up to Reaper and slapped him. She then pulled him into a hug.

"Don't you dare do that again." She whispered into his chest.

Reaper placed a hand on her head. "I won't."

As she stepped back Reaper got a good look at her. His eyebrows shot up in shock.

"Ichigo, are you pregnant?"

"What?!" Havana shouted.

She nodded.

"Congratulations." He said.

"Goro! Come here so I can punch you!" Havana said, and she ran after a fleeing Goro.

Reaper and the others laughed until Zero Two got Reaper's attention.

"Umm, Reaper?" She asked.

"Yes?" He replied.

Zero Two fidgeted in place for a moment before walking over to him and whispering in his ear,

"I'm pregnant."

Reaper looked at her in shock, the others just looked confused.

"How?" he asked. "You told us that that couldn't happen to you."

"What are you two talking about?" Cypress asked.

Reaper looked at her for permission and she nodded.

"Zero Two is pregnant." Reaper announced.

Everyone's jaws dropped. Ikuno then rolled forward and answered his question.

"It's possible due to the fact that Hiro is the same as her. Over the ten years you have been gone, Hiro has completed his transformation and is a Klaxosaur human hybrid like she is. Thus, they can reproduce."

As Ikuno spoke Reaper beheld Ikuno's state and sadness covered his eyes.

"Ikuno, what happened to you?" he asked.

"The rapid ageing that we experience caught up to me. I was able to develop a cure but," she shrugged her shoulders, "I can't undo the damage that's already been done."

"Snake, is there anything you can do?" Reaper said, turning toward him.

Snake shook his head. "This is beyond Chronos's power. I can turn back time on inanimate objects but the living…we are too complex for me to do. Unfortunately, I'm not a god."

" _Master?"_ Reaper practically begged.

" _*sigh* Fine, but just this once."_

Death suddenly appeared, scaring the shit out of Reaper Beta, and placed his hands on Ikuno's head.

" _Hold still."_

A clock striking one was heard and Ikuno began to glow. When the glow subsided, Ikuno had regressed in age, looking like she would at the age of 20. Ikuno looked shocked.

"What…?" she asked.

" _You have him to thank for this."_ Death said pointing at Reaper before disappearing.

Ikuno slowly stood up from her wheelchair and took a few tentative steps. When she realized there was no shakiness, she ran toward Reaper with tears in her eyes and grabbed him in a hug.

Reaper placed a hand on her head as she sobbed into his chest. "Your welcome Ikuno." He said.

She attempted to dry her tears and walked over to Snake and the two began to talk quietly. Someone then shouted Reaper's name.

"Uncle Reaperrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Reaper grunted as a small child slammed into his legs and grabbed him in a hug. Looking down, Reaper saw a small girl that looked strikingly like Kokoro hugging his legs. Kokoro and Mitsuru soon approached over the trench that the FranXX had dug, carrying two other children.

"Ai! I told you not to run off!" Mitsuru chastised.

"But I wanted to see Uncle Reaper." She protested.

Reaper then picked her up. "So, you're the Ai I was told about. You look a lot like your mother."

"Thank you! Mama said that you were away for a long time but you're going to stay for a while, right?" Ai asked.

"Yes, yes we are." Havana said walking over.

"Aunt Havana!" Ai said, she then wiggled out of Reapers arms and ran over to her, Havana was soon fawning over the girl.

"It seems you two have been busy." Crow said to Mitsuru and Kokoro.

"We aren't the only ones, Futoshi has two with another on the way and Ichigo has one as well." Kokoro said.

"And so does Zero Two." Raven said.

"Does she now? Well I can't say I'm surprised." Kokoro responded.

Reaper then noticed Cypress was sneaking glances at the girl who arrived with Ikuno. Reaper lightly nudged Futoshi, who had walked over.

"Who is she?" He asked, jerking his head toward the girl.

"Her? Oh, that's right you guys never met her. That Naomi, Hiro's original pistil. Hachi found her along with several other parasites in a cryosleep facility. We thought she had died when her transport, which was going back to the Garden, was destroyed in a Klaxosaur attack." Futoshi explained.

"Ah. She seems to have caught Cypress's eyes." Reaper noted.

Reaper then looked around. "Where are Nana and Hachi by the way?"

"They are back in Gran Crevasse. They are waiting for us to return with you." Hiro said.

"Gran Crevasse? Wasn't that where the Apus was? How are they inside of it?" Owl asked.

"You misunderstand. Gran Crevasse is a city, one of the first ones we built. Nana and Hachi are in control of defense and security." Ichigo explained.

Everyone began to gather by the cars and looked at them.

"What about the FranXX?" James asked.

" _We will be fine here James. It's not like anything can hurt us."_ Narcissus responded.

"We will send a crew out her to get them and bring them back, although we don't really use FranXX anymore." Goro said.

"I have an idea in mind." Reaper said.

They then got in the cars, Reaper and the others getting in vehicles that were driven by some of Ichigo's escort and drove back to Gran Crevasse. When they finally parked, Nana, Hachi and Gaia were standing outside waiting for them.

Reaper Alpha walked up to the two and saluted them.

"As ordered ma'am, we have returned." Reaper said.

Nana walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. She then said.

"Don't you dare do such a thing again." She said.

"Yes ma'am" He said.

They then walked into a meeting room and they filled each other in on what happened on their respective sides.

While Reaper Alpha was gone they had finished converting everything to renewable energy and had figured out how to generate nuclear power without harming the environment with radiation. Miku and Zorome had opened an elementary school for the children and were starting to teach classes. Futoshi had opened his own bake store and was renowned for his culinary creations. Ichigo was still the president of the world although she tried to step down multiple times the people rejected her doing so. Goro had gone to the Garden and rescued the children that were kept there and had destroyed the growth vats himself. Ikuno and Naomi were both doctors and researchers. They personally took care of each member of Reaper Beta no matter the issue. Gaia had become the resident expert on Klaxosaurs and taught several classes at the high school that Hachi ran. Kokoro and Mitsuru were just living their lives as civilians.

Reaper Beta then took Reaper Alpha back to the cars, saying that they had a surprise for them. They drove out of the city and into the suburbs.

"Where are we going?" Havana asked.

"You'll see." Zero Two said with a smile.

They pulled up in front of a set of houses and got out. Reaper and his squad looked confused.

"Why are we here?" Owl asked.

Hiro threw each of them a set of keys.

"These," Hiro said gesturing to the houses, "are yours."

"Really?" Havana said, excited.

"Yes. we built them and have taken care of them until you returned. They are yours now." Nana said with a smile.

"Thank you." Reaper said with a smile.

As Reaper Beta left them to explore the houses given to them, Zero Two called out Reaper name.

"Yes?" He replied.

"There is always room for you guys here. Never doubt that."

…

The next day the 4 FranXX were hauled through the city to a warehouse that Reaper had appropriated, and Reaper Alpha entered the building. Four days later, they emerged. When Reaper Beta arrived to look at what they had done, they were shocked. They had managed to shrink down the FranXX to human size.

"They are not quite androids, but they are as close as we can get them." Reaper said.

" _This is fine Reaper, we weren't even expecting this much."_ Black Rose said.

"How?" Ikuno asked. "and why?"

"Well it was obvious that the FranXX are no longer in use, but we couldn't bring ourselves to destroy them. After I discovered that they were a program that could be removed we came up with this. That way they can still be of use and aren't let to decay." Havana said.

"Man, I wish we could do that to ours." Zorome said.

" _You technically can. The others are the same as us they just don't like to talk."_ Lotus said.

"Reaper?" Kokoro was practically begging him with her eyes.

"Fine, fine." Reaper said with a laugh.

And so, Reaper and his squad repeated what they did to their FranXX to the others. Reaper Beta was overjoyed that their FranXX were still able to be of use. They became personal assistances to their pilots and this were at peace, for a time.

...

Deep within an abandoned APE facility, there was a room that was packed with sensing equipment. The sensors began to go off as space bulged and a glowing white crack appeared in the air. The crack pulsed as if something was trying to get out.

…

" _Death, you know it is only a matter of time before war breaks out again."_ The Creator said.

" _Indeed, and we all know what is going to happen then. You need to choose a side."_ Lucifer said.

" _You both know my answer to that question. As for what my Reaper's choose however, that is their choice."_ Death said.

…

On the other side of the universe, a woman was slicing through hordes of enemies with her glaive. Her crimson eyes burning and her medium length brunette hair flared out behind her.

"Die!" she screamed as she enemies just kept getting back up.

…

On another distant planet, a man with light blond hair, deep blue eyes and glasses was walking through a forest of twisted trees. He wore white rouge clothing with a deep purple trim, although he was no rouge, and had two daggers at his waist. A woman dressed in white and purple appeared before him, he kneeled before her.

"My lady." He said.

" _I told you that you didn't need to be so formal with me."_ She said gesturing for him to stand.

"Force of habit Lady Luck." He replied, standing. "Is something wrong?"

" _The war has ended. You can return home."_ She said.

"My lady, you know that I swore to not return to Earth until I found my brother." He replied.

" _I know but…"_ the woman then shimmered, and she changed into a woman with long black hair and black clothing.

She ran a hand along his jaw before laying her head on his shoulder. _"I have found your sister-in-law. She might have some answers, yes?"_

The man was looking distinctly uncomfortable and had a large blush on his face. "Yes, Madam Misfortune, she might."

" _Then shall we go?"_ she said getting off of him and holding out her hand to him.

He nodded and took her hand. They compressed into a ball of purple light and shot into space.

" _The war will begin soon love, we will have to return eventually."_ She said.

"I know but I need to find him, and please stop calling me that, imagine what the Creator would say if he heard you say that." He said.

" _We'll be fine."_ She said.

 **To be continued in Darling in the FranXX: Gods Rising**

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, that's it, this story is done! Not bad for my first story, if I do say so myself. As of the posting of this chapter, Reaper Squadron has 15,970 views which is much better than I was expecting. I would like to thank my brother who helped me come up with some of the ideas for this story. I would also like to thank you, my readers, for giving this story a chance. This may not be the greatest story out there, but I'm glad you found interest in it.

As you can see, however, we're not done yet! Reaper Alpha as well as Squad 13 will be joined by a host of new OC's in Darling in the FranXX: Gods Rising. With Death freed and the VIRM defeated, the gods have returned to Earth. However, with Death's release, an eons old feud begins anew, and Earth is its new battleground. Gods Rising is going to be a coop story that I write with my brother so, depending on how things go, I might have to push updates to once every two weeks. We'll see.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron. As always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. See you in next story! Ciao!

* * *

*Camera pans to show Code 089 still lost in the white void*

Code 089: I think I'm stuck here. At least I have a desk, a computer will all my files on it, and a magically replenishing refrigerator. Although a way home would be nice.

*ominous creaking sound as millions of doors appear*

Code 089: *sweatdrops* Umm. Ok, then. One of these doors must lead home, right?

*Code 089 wanders through a random door and disappears. Off screen, a door opens*

Luck: Death, where are we?

Death: I'm not sure. Mark the door we came through, so we can find a way out of here.

Luck: Ok, why?

Death: I'm going to explore. *Goes through a random door*

Luck: You know, that might not be a bad idea. *Enters another random door*


	27. Author's Note

Just a quick note to inform you all that I have posted the first chapter of Darling in the FranXX: Gods Rising. If your interested head to my profile to check it out.


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